Evaluation of Devon County Council’s ‘Driving Safer for Longer’ workshops

Devon County Council have been running ‘Driving Safer for Longer’ workshops since summer 2008. These workshops are targeted at older drivers in Devon and are intended to help older drivers drive safely for as long as possible.

The workshops consider the effects of illness, medication and eyesight on driving, inform drivers of vehicle choices and modifications that are available, outline some of the risks to drivers and sources of help, support and advice.

The University of Plymouth and Devon County Council collaborated to evaluate the effectiveness of these workshops against their stated aims and other outcomes.

One hundred and sixty one workshop attendees participated in the evaluation. They completed questionnaires before and after the Driving Safer for Longer workshop. The questionnaires examined, knowledge of factors that might impact on safe driving (driving-related knowledge), knowledge and intentions in relation to support available for older drivers (support knowledge), and subjective evaluations of the workshop.

It was found that workshop attendance increased driving-related knowledge and support knowledge (in particular intentions to access support). Participants’ subjective evaluations of the workshop suggested that they would welcome more video clips, more information prior to attending the workshop and increased content.

These findings suggest that the Driving Safer for Longer workshops are an effective tool for improving driving-related knowledge and support knowledge.