A new scheme, aimed at providing refresher driving courses to rusty or lapsed drivers, has been launched by the AA charity.

The AA conducted a survey of its members and found that nearly half felt they would benefit from driving refresher courses.

Some 93 per cent of those questioned thought that lapsed drives would gain most from the course, with 86 per cent believing older drivers would benefit the most with improved confidence and refreshed skills.

According to other data compiled by Britain’s biggest motoring organisation, which has more than 15 million members, around five million Britons have taken a break from driving, which left them feeling less confident and caused them to lose their skills.

The charity’s new scheme will see 2,000 free-of-charge courses offered to lapsed or rusty drivers to boost confidence and improve their skills.

Drive Confident packages will consist of two one-hour sessions with an AA qualified instructor.

A recent survey conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists found that, 68 per cent of motorists believe mandatory re-testing for over 70s would improve road safety.

This was despite data from the organisation showing that older drivers only account for around four per cent of injury crashes.

Please share your thoughts

You must be logged in to post a comment.