Without major marketing fanfare, Ford Australia, in conjunction with the Amy Gillet foundation, is provided free driver training in techniques that are not the normal part of getting your L plates. David Brown reports
Ford Australia has announced that its free Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) course will tour Australia for a fifth consecutive year.
It aims to increase the use of safe and calm driving techniques as well as teach new drivers how to share the road with other vehicles and cyclists.
One approach to help drivers avoid dooring cyclists is called the Dutch reach, in which a driver uses their far hand (left hand for right hand drive vehicles) to open the car door which forces drivers to turn their head and look behind then hopefully to check for cyclists.
The Driving Skills for Life is a free course funded by Ford and carried out at six locations around Australia.
David’s boyhood passion for motor cars did not immediately lead to a professional role in the motor industry. A qualified Civil Engineer he specialised in traffic engineering and transport planning.
What followed were various positions including being seconded to a government think-tank for the planning of transport firstly in Sydney and then for the whole of NSW. After working with the NRMA and as a consultant he moved to being an independent writer and commentator on the broader areas of transport and the more specific areas of the cars we drive.
His half hour motoring program “Overdrive” has been described as an “informed, humorous and irreverent look at motoring and transport from Australia and overseas”. It is heard on 22 stations across Australia. He does weekly interviews with several ABC radio stations and is also heard on commercial radio in Sydney.
David has written for metropolitan and regional newspapers and has presented regular segments on metropolitan and regional television stations. David is also a contributor for AnyAuto
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