By KATH GANNAWAY
WHAT drives a perfectly sensible grown-up to head back into the passenger seat of a non-related teenage learner driver?
Surely, a mum, dad or other family member has done their duty having spent 120 hours on the road with a son, daughter, grandchild or other young relative on a mission to get their driver’s licence.
And, for that matter how does a young learner without a ‘grown up’ to teach them to drive, find such a person.
For Rhonda Rattray, having taught her son to drive, it was about knowing she had the experience, skills, temperament and time to teach other young people to drive, and survive on the roads.
For 19-year-old Natasha Treller, it was about gaining not only technical driving skills, but finding someone who could help her achieve the 120 hours on the road that is a mandatory part of getting a licence.
As it turns out, it’s often about more than the on-road experience.
It was the L2P Learner Driver Mentor program that brought the two together.
L2P is a community based volunteer program funded by VicRoads and run by Maria McLoughlin at Yarra Ranges Council’s Youth Services department.
The program provides support, guidance and access to driving practice for learner drivers aged from 16 to 21 who face significant barriers to gaining the 120 hours driving.
The council provides a vehicle and training and support for the community volunteers who sign up.
L2P starts with time with a registered driving instructor to enable the young people to come into the program with a certain level of driving skills before being matched with a mentor.
“L2P also provides opportunities for the development of personal relationships whereby the volunteer mentor empowers the young person with practical driving tools as well as social skills,” Ms McLoughlin said.
“Youth mentoring provides opportunities for volunteer mentors to make a positive impact on the lives of young people, helping them achieve goals and build their confidence.
“The strong and positive relationships formed and maintained are essential in achieving success with the program.
Natasha is the third person Rhonda has taken for her licence.
In between her first L2P driver and Natasha, she mentored a mature-aged Vietnamese woman who had come out to Australia as a fully-licensed driver, but needed to get her Victorian licence.
That, she says, was more nerve-wracking than anything she has had with her younger proteges.
“She was used to driving a scooter in Vietnam and would cut in and out quickly,” she said.
“Even now, I feel safer with Tash driving.”
Open communication is the key to a successful L2P outcome, according to Rhonda.
“You get to know them so well,” she said.
“To start with, it’s just a teenager and an older person sitting in a car, but over 120 hours one-on-one in a car, you really get to know each other.”
That build up of relationship over time, enable both the mentor and the driver to tackle any issues, whether they are about driving skills or behaviour, in a respectful and non-confrontational way.
She said it was very much about the mutual obligation for respect and added that there was great support and advice through the program for mentors on how to deal with any situations that came up.
She has learnt a lot from the L2Ps about what some of the dangers are for young drivers who will walk away from their licence test with two red ‘P’ stick-ons representing two things – the great achievement and satisfaction of getting their ‘P’s, and the sobering fact that they are now officially in the highest risk category for drivers.
Road rules, and distraction, are two of the risk factors that Rhonda sees in young drivers.
“There’s a common misapprehension that once you have passed your test you don’t need to know the road rules,” she said.
“They get their Learners just to get their Learners, and the road rules don’t always stay in their heads, so they will be driving down the road and they don’t know who has right of way.
“Nine times out of 10 when they are going for the test the VicRoads tester will say ‘you didn’t check your mirrors enough’, that’s almost a given.”
Mobile phones? “They’re really attached to these things and it’s very hard for them to put them down. They will want to check their phones at the lights and even if they are on vibrate, they still hear it and it’s a distraction.
Rhonda’s solution for one driver was relegation to the glove box for the whole lesson.
And, SatNavs? “We don’t use them. I like to get them to read the road signs and learn to look ahead and anticipate,” she said.
“They’re distracting even for a fully-licensed driver, and even while you’re on your “P”s you’re still learning.
How are you going to gain those observation and concentration skills if you’re on SatNav?”
Natasha had completed only 20 hours of her driving time when she started, and is now up to 80 hours and says she feels much more confident on the roads.
“We’ve spent time on the local roads, but we’ve also spent time driving on the freeway,” she said.
“Recently, we drove into the city, which was a great experience.”
Refining her reverse-parking skills is the big challenge right now, and with Rhonda’s help, she is hoping her licence is not too far away.
L2P mentoring has much to recommend it, according to Rhonda who said there’s a lot of satisfaction to be gained in being in the passenger seat with an L-plater.
“It’s very rewarding to think this may help somebody become more independent,” she said.
“The time on the roads is invaluable to ensuring safe driving practices for years to come.”
She would like to see more people taking on the role of driving mentors to learner drivers.
The L2P program has two vehicles, one based in Lilydale and the other in Yarra Junction.
Anyone interested in becoming a mentor, or matching up with a mentor, should contact Ms McLoughlin at Yarra Ranges Council Youth Services on 9294 6775.
