Beyond the Test: Road Safety for the Real World · Part 8 of 10
Optimism bias, The Honest Truth and the coaching approach that actually changes how new drivers behave.
Ask a group of learner drivers whether young drivers are at higher risk of crashing, and most will probably say yes. Ask whether they personally are at higher risk, and the answer often changes. Many believe crashes happen to other people: the show-offs, the speeders, the ones who do not take driving seriously.
That gap between knowing the risk and feeling it is one of the biggest obstacles in road safety. It is also the reason so much well-meant advice from instructors goes in one ear and out of the other.
What young people actually think
In 2025, Ipsos carried out research for the RAC Foundation with 17 to 19-year-olds, exploring their views on graduated driver licensing. Young people recognised that new drivers face real risks. But they tended to blame crashes on reckless individuals, rather than on the age and inexperience that every new driver shares.
This is a well-known pattern. In a classic 1981 study, the Swedish psychologist Ola Svenson asked students to compare their driving skill with that of other drivers. In the American group, 93% rated themselves above the median, which is statistically impossible. Psychologists call it optimism bias, or the “better than average” effect.
For instructors, the implication is uncomfortable. If a pupil believes the risk belongs to someone else, then telling them the statistics, however shocking, is unlikely to change what they do.
What The Honest Truth got right
The Honest Truth was set up in South Devon in 2009, after a crash that killed three young people. It works through driving instructors, giving them prompts and scenarios to use in lessons. Its campaigns use memorable images of young people with animal heads to represent risky driving habits, and invite drivers to ask honestly whether any of them apply to themselves.
Its key insight is in its message: “small changes save lives”. Rather than asking young drivers to become a different person, it asks them to make one small change and pass it on to the people they drive with. Later campaigns drew on behavioural science, with short messages designed to be easy to recall.
The approach has not been without criticism. When it launched in Dorset in 2014, some road safety professionals questioned in Road Safety News whether all of its claims were supported by evidence. That is a fair reminder for all of us: the facts we use with pupils need to be accurate, or we lose their trust.
From telling to coaching
Coaching works with optimism bias rather than against it. Instead of trying to convince the pupil that they are at risk, it helps them examine their own thinking and reach their own conclusions. A conclusion the pupil reaches for themselves is far harder to dismiss.
| Telling | Coaching |
|---|---|
| “Young drivers crash at night, so be careful.” | “What do you think changes about driving at 2am compared with now?” |
| “Never use your phone while driving.” | “What would make you tempted to check your phone? What could you do about that before you set off?” |
| “Don’t let your friends distract you.” | “Which of your friends would be the most distracting passenger? How would you handle it?” |
| “You took that bend too fast.” | “How much of the road ahead could you see on that bend? Was your speed right for it?” |
Coaching is not soft. The pupil is still expected to arrive at a safe answer, and the instructor still steers the conversation. The difference is who does the thinking.
On your next lesson
- Ask the pupil to rate themselves. “Out of ten, how safe a driver do you think you will be in your first year?” Then ask what would move that number up or down.
- Turn one piece of advice into a question in every lesson. Notice how the pupil’s answers differ from what you would have said.
- Agree one small change. Borrow The Honest Truth’s idea: ask the pupil to choose one habit they will keep after passing, and one thing they will say to a friend who is driving badly.
- Use reflection at the end of the lesson. Ask what they learned about themselves as a driver today, not just about the car.
Part 3 and Standards Check: why this matters
Teaching and learning strategies carry eight of the seventeen competencies, up to 24 of the 51 marks. Many of them reward exactly what coaching does: a teaching style suited to the pupil, encouraging them to analyse problems and take responsibility for their learning, appropriate feedback, and encouraging reflection.
An examiner will notice when an instructor does most of the talking. A lesson full of correct information delivered as instruction can still score poorly, because the pupil never had to think. A lesson where the pupil works things out, with good questions from you, shows the client-centred approach the assessment is built around.
Unit 3 of the DVSA National Standard for Driver and Rider Training sets out coaching as one of the core ways instructors enable safe and responsible driving. The National Standard for Driving Cars and Light Vans expects a driver to review and adjust their own behaviour (Role 5). That depends on the self-awareness that coaching builds and telling does not.
Here is how this article’s lesson ideas map to the Standards Check competencies:
| Lesson idea | Area | Competency it supports |
|---|---|---|
| Ask the pupil to rate themselves | Teaching and learning | Encouraging the pupil to analyse problems and reflect on their performance |
| Turn advice into a question | Teaching and learning | Teaching style suited to the pupil; encouraging responsibility for learning |
| Agree one small change | Risk management / Teaching and learning | Shared responsibility for risk; encouraging the pupil to take responsibility |
| Reflect at the end of the lesson | Teaching and learning | Encouraging the pupil to reflect on their own performance |
Join the conversation
I would really like to hear what you think. Please share your views and experiences in the comments on Facebook, where thousands of ADIs and PDIs are already part of the conversation.
This week’s question. What is the best question you have ever asked a pupil? Share it in the comments so others can try it.
You can also find me on LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. If you disagree with something here, say so. A good debate is how we all improve.
Further reading on grahamhooper.blog
- Introducing The Honest Truth
- 24 Marks You Cannot Afford to Leave Behind
- Making Sense of the GDE, Part 11: Coaching the Higher Levels
- Beyond the Test, Part 7: Involving Parents
Browse every series at grahamhooper.blog
Coming next
Article 9: Rehearsing Life After the Test. Night drives, friends in the car and unfamiliar routes, and how teaching for real driving moves you from Grade B towards Grade A.
Sources
- Ipsos for the RAC Foundation (2025). Exploring Young People’s Attitudes to Graduated Driver Licensing. Summarised by UKROED.
- Svenson, O. (1981). Are we all less risky and more skillful than our fellow drivers? Acta Psychologica, 47(2), 143–148.
- The Honest Truth. thehonesttruth.co.uk; Road Safety GB: Honest Truth launches in Dorset; Road Safety GB: Ten Truths campaign.
- DVSA. ADI standards check; National standard for driver and rider training. gov.uk
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