Another successful year for county’s CarKraft driving course

**Issued on behalf of the Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance**

This Sunday (November 12) marks the end of another successful year for CarKraft – a free driving course organised by the Northamptonshire Safer Roads Alliance (NSRA).

Now in its 22nd year, more than 15,000 participants have benefited from the free road safety event, and next Sunday 173 people aged 15-30 are set to take part in the final event of 2023 at Silverstone’s Porsche Experience Centre.

Young drivers are one of the most vulnerable road users on the county’s roads, and CarKraft offers participants the opportunity to enhance their skills to help reduce the chances of them being involved in a road collision.

The pre-drivers aged 15yrs+ session includes a classroom workshop aimed to help participants understand how their behaviours and other distractions can influence the driver. They then experience driving for the first time with a qualified instructor. We have also introduced an invaluable workshop for parents so that they can help guide their child through the learning process.

While the qualified drivers (aged 17-30) will experience what it is like for a car to skid, find out what it is like to drive an HGV, including understanding blind spots, learn advance driving techniques and changes to the Highway Code/Smart Motorways.

There will also be a session on the Fatal Five – careless driving, excessive speed, using a mobile phone behind the wheel, not wearing a seat belt, and driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs – which are the main contributory factors linked to death or serious injury collisions on the roads.

Keith Millard, Senior Road Safety Officer for both North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council, said: “More than 15,000 drivers have benefited since CarKraft was first launched in 2001 and it continues to be a hugely popular and regularly over-subscribed scheme.

“CarKraft is for everyone – it is an invaluable experience whether you’re newly qualified or have held your licence for a few years. Everyone can benefit from some refresher training, and we encourage you to sign up to one of our events.

“We would also like to thank our partners from Volvo UK, Adrian Flux Insurance, Forterra, National Highways and a small group of enthusiastic local driving instructors as without their continued support, we would not be able to run CarKraft.”

The two events held this year have been fully booked, with places for each session filling up fast.

However, we are working to secure more funding and together with the continued resource support of our current partners we hope to have at least two dates next year. A waiting list for 2024 will be launched on the CarKraft website (www.carkraft.info) in the next few weeks.

Tragically in 2022, after being involved in a road collision in Northamptonshire, 36 people never returned home safely to their loved ones, and 347 required urgent medical assistance for serious and life-changing injuries.

The NSRA was set up in 2018, and is a countywide partnership between the police, fire & rescue service, the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and both West and North Northamptonshire Councils.

It brings together key partners to work on initiatives which aims to improve road safety across Northamptonshire through education, engagement, engineering, and enforcement.