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Zipper's Driving School - News Views & Trivia
Views - the Evolution of DTAL |
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The program commenced in 1984, and was administered by a DTAL Board of Governance with representatives from DIPE (now DPI), Road Safety Council, Police, Territory Insurance Office, Automotive Training Advisory Council (NT), and the NT Automobile Association. A full-time DTAL Program Manager handled the administrative tasks and reported to the Board. Funding was by the Motor Accident Compensation Act (MACA) through the Territory Insurance Office (TIO). There was only one theory module. Practical training was done using a "tick card" system to mark off completed skills and when ready, candidates were tested by a Licence Testing Officer (LTOs) at Motor Vehicle Registry offices, the same avenue for licence testing available to the public. Presentation of the tick-card identified the candidate as a DTAL student and enabled early age licensing (16 yrs instead of 16½ yrs) and the fee for issuing the provisional licence to be waived. In 2001 an in-car training/assessing system based on the Australian Capital Territory's log book system was trialled. A second theory module based on driver attitudes and the practicalities of car ownership & driving was introduced, this module being taken after the student achieved a certain stage of the training. Practical training was provided by Authorised Driving Instructors (ADIs) who were required to have Certificate III (driver instruction) and operate under two Codes of Practice (from the DTAL Board and the licensing authority). The system is based on CBT&A (not pure CBT&A) - the 22 competencies range from knowledge of controls, cab drill, start-up, etc through to merging and overtaking, and includes a mandatory night drive. A notable omission is "emergency stopping" which was included in old tick-card The final competency is The System of Car Control. The three assessment drives (two progress reviews and a final check drive) were conducted by the ADI. Auditors from the MVR and monitors appointed by the DTAL Board could observe assessment & training operations at any time. The number of vouchers issued to each DTAL student was increased from 8 to 12. On successful completion of the log book, ADIs issued a certificate enabling the issue, at the Registrar's discretion, of an NT provisional licence. ADIs commenced at an interim level, the idea being that they would be promoted to full ADI status after achieving a certain level of successful audits. (ADIs expected this to happen after 6 months, but unfortunately no interim ADI was promoted, not even those who achieved 2½ years of 100%, or nearly 100%, successful audits). In March 2004, ADIs were waiting for the newest Code of Practice issued by DIPE to be implemented - supposedly this would herald long awaited modifications to the log book system, promotion from interim status for the performers and a change of name from Authorised Driving Instructor (ADI) to Specialist Driver Trainer (SDT). This was not to be. Not all ADIs were training or assessing to required standards. The 30% unsuccessful audit rate was showing no signs of improvement and at least 50% of students entering the program dropped out and obtained their licence through the public-access test (VORT). An unacceptably high number of these students were failing their first attempt at VORT as well. ADIs had their authority to issue certificates for provisional licences revoked, all DTAL students had to undergo the VORT test at an MVR. Unfortunately these changes were badly advised and introduced - many ADIs assumed the changes related only to the "new system" which was funded by a different process, and continued to produce certificates which were not honoured by the MVR. The abruptness of the changes was in stark contrast to the agonising slowness of progress (consultation, review & changes) over the past years. Dr Chris Burns Minister of Infrastructure Planning and Environment responded to the outcry from unhappy students, parents and instructors. Students on the "original" log book program could still be assessed by their authorised instructor, although the changes for students on the new system remain. A meeting between officials and training providers was held on 10 May 2004 (see the News & Views article "Not All Questions Answered"). The government outlined the direction of DTAL, and concerns from driver trainers were listened to. The program will undergo a review and input is encouraged from driver trainers, although any changes would not be implemented until January 2005.
In July / August 2004, stakeholders were afforded an opportunity to provide input to the DTAL review process at forums held in Alice Springs, Katherine, and Darwin. It is up to Cabinet to decide DTAL's future - we will have to wait and see. The DTAL program is continuing under the new DTAL Manager (Nicola Jones) with a modified code of practice (the Conditions of Registration for DTAL Instructors). The changes that have been introduced to the program are much needed. They include:
Driving instructors are still of the opinion that certain LTOs should be doing a different job however. Well here we are, it's September 2008 at the time of writing. So just how is the DTAL program going? Frankly I'm very reluctant to "bite the bullet" and let fly with my true feelings. Why? Because to a great extent I depend on DTAL Program clients for my daily bread, it's not easy living in the NT with its high rents & living costs if you have a low security, low income job with very high operating expenses. If I vented my deepest thoughts I would find this job very heavy going indeed! And then I would not be in an advantageous position to achieve my goal of providing quality training & education towards the safety of NT novice drivers in the NT. The program now (September 2008). There have been a few DTAL Program Managers, none of whom seemed to have had permanency and also possessed relevant qualifications in Education, or Driver Training, or both. At the time of writing the current DTAL Manager has just quit her post and we are awaiting news on who the manager will be. The outgoing manager is a qualified auditor and was very diligent in her duties - it was welcome to see such attention in reducing or eliminating the fraudulent usage of subsidised vouchers by certain registered DTAL instructors. However she has no driver training or educational qualifications that we are aware of. No doubt she has a current NT's drivers licence (we were never told!) and this seems to be ALL that our current government regards as necessary for position (NOT a criticism of the outgoing manager, but of the NT government and its departments!). An example: the log book requires at least one "night drive", as do log book systems in other states & territories (in S.A. for example, a total of 10 hours of night driving experience must be logged. In the NT, the log book's one mandatory night drive must be with a Registered DTAL Instructor). A few months back during a DTAL workshop, a colleague & myself brought up the subject of night driving; we pointed out that very few instructors were actually conducting it. This was gleaned from two sources - students from other instructors who averred that they did their "night drive" in daytime and their RDI entered a false time into their log book, and that our driving school NEVER encounter other instructors on the road at night (apart from "L To P Driving School", now moved to Tasmania). The DTAL Manager's response was final: she pointed to a sample voucher's "Lesson Date & Time" field and said "That is evidence!". Evidence???!!! That is how RDIs are getting away with manslaughter - just write a bogus lesson time (e.g. 7:00pm instead of, say, 2:00pm) on a voucher and it is now irrefutable evidence that the night drive was conducted at night! Fatuous and naive! (and of course the DTAL student is not going to complain) Worse - during this discussion the DTAL Manager suddenly said: "anyway there is nothing to teach during a night drive.") Another totally outrageous statement offensive to qualified instructors, but indicative of the sad state the DTAL program is in. The Log Book The whole idea of bringing in a log book is to provide training & education that is all-encompassing and of a higher standard than the training required to pass our simple robotic public driving test (VORT - vehicle On Road Test). As an example, the DTAL Log Book requires students to be competent at multi-point turns (3-point turns) - all the "non-Connies Driving School" students I've inherited from other instructors have never actually done one, but they are signed off as being competent whereas their RDI has not got them to do one at all. Why? This and some other DTAL Log Book competencies are NOT tested on our VORT. So naturally many RDIs use the student's 12 vouchers to get them ready for their test, not to train up to a high standard. Also VERY popular with students who in most cases are not really interested in knowing how to drive safely & efficiently, they just want their licence (freedom). Another example: our public test requires the candidate to demonstrate a safe & legal U-turn. This is a "gimme" for many candidates because their instructor has said "on your test you will be asked to do a U-turn here and here and here etc". Nothing about how to select a safe & legal location, just do it "here" - and nothing about the 7 or 8 other types of possible U-Turns over & above the two types required for VORT. In May 2009 it was announced that DTAL would be reviewed and replaced by a program to be called "DriveSafe NT". NT instructors were invited to seminars to put forward their views for the NT Driver Training Review, and a steering committee formed. See News & Views page 4 for details, and my submission to the review is also available for reading. September 2009 - the DTAL Program is still operating and all is well - or so it seems on the surface! DTAL "Theory 1" classes are being held, students are getting their NT Learners licence, students are taking advantage of subsided training, log books are being signed off, young people are going for their NT Vehicle On Road test (VORT). However the program is not being operating the way is was intended at its conception, and many would argue that the desired outcomes of the program are not being met. First of all it is necessary to explain that the current P's test (VORT) is not a high standard test, certainly not as high as the standards supposed to be set by DTAL's log book system. That is one of the reasons the log book system was introduced - to ensure a high standard of training and assessment. It seems that few instructors are taking the log book system seriously any more, they are happy to pander to their student's desire to simply get a provisional licence in the shortest and cheapest way possible, regardless of how well or safely they can drive at the end of the day. After all, a popular instructor can guarantee a reasonably consistent income. DTAL students are supposed to only attempt their test when all log book competencies have been signed off; but a very high percent simply opt out when they have been on their learners licence for the minimum 6 months, then book a test. Having a competency signed off is no guarantee that it has even been attempted, let alone achieved. Some log book competencies are not tested by VORT, others are tested in a very simplistic fashion. Take U-Turns as an example - everyone "knows" the places where they could be asked to do a U-turn during a VORT, many instructors simply teach their students to do test U-turns "here" without any thought to discussion on how to select safe legal U-turn locations. Some examiners have demonstrated deficiency in their underpinning knowledge as well, for example directing a test candidate to perform a U-turn in an unsafe location, after accidently getting off the set test route. Very few students are bothering to attend the DTAL "Theory 2" to round off their knowledge (Darwin High School had to cancel its September '09 Theory 2 class do to lack of numbers). In summary, DTAL has deteriorated into a system for young people to get their NT Provisional Licence as quickly as possible, with just enough skill required to pass the test, and at NT taxpayers expense! At the time of writing, the process of developing the new program is underway but there is some way to go yet, the new program probably won't roll out until mid 2010 and there are not yet any details ready to me made public. |
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