Acclaim Driving Blog
The ECOlogical Driving Test
Published: September 21st 2009
The ECOlogical Driving Test
AN ECOlogical driving test, establishing a motorist’s fuel ECOnomy and accident
avoidance skills, was launched in Britain on September 1st.2009. It is the first-ever ‘cash-saving at the wheel’ qualification and toughest-ever test of
vehicle control for experienced car and van drivers.
Privately developed and operated - with a major insurance company’s blessing and closely watched by Whitehall - it is set to become an employment qualification.
The voluntary 90-minute test provides a Certificate of Professional Competence
(CPC). Only truly safe-defensive environmentally-friendly drivers will pass. Costing £160 the Eco-Advanced Driving Test includes every type of road situation to prove a driver:-
CUTS fuel consumption to at least 15% below the driver’s vehicle’s official
average.
REDUCES damage incident risks and vehicle wear-tear by up to 60%.
MERITS maximum vehicle insurance discount.
Setting a new 21st century level of advanced driving, the test is targeting over 20m UK business / vocational car-van drivers - and their employers. For Eco-qualified drivers will be an employers’ attraction to minimise business vehicle running costs. Already a major supermarket chain is “keenly interested” and quickly many employers could demand that their work drivers be Eco Certified.
The £160 test cost “will be amortised in weeks to then be permanently profitable for all successful candidates”, say test creators the Approved Driving Instructors National Joint Council (HQ Stafford, Staffs) and Driver Education Research Foundation (DERF - Croydon, Surrey).
Professor Peter Russell, DERF Director, adds: “Successful candidates will be the top 10% of Britain’s business drivers. The test could spread abroad.”
The Eco-Driving Test (ecological + economical) is a first in assessing, measuring
and recording a driver’s fuel economy , vehicle care, accident avoidance and skill at reading the road ahead in all conditions. The importance of such eco driving is
CASH. A Pass certificate will signify that the driver is an environmentally caring big money saver at the wheel.
It is an established fact that Care at the Wheel Cuts Costs, fuel use is reduced,
exhaust emissions are slashed , tyre and brake wear drops, fewer replacement parts are required, servicing costs are minimised ,and vehicle life is extended.
A carefully driven vehicle fetches more on re-sale because it looks, feels, and is
better than an uncared for equivalent. The careful driver has fewer scratches,
scrapes, knocks and crashes. He’s a good risk and so is given top insurance
discount.
That all amounts to Employer Appeal. The Eco-qualified driver is going to run a
better chance of getting and holding a job. And it’s highly likely that vehicle insurers will encourage companies, or at least ‘risk sensitive’ businesses, to employ Ecoqualified drivers.
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