setting an example
Fast-track to road safety Motor sport and responsible driving on the public highway may at first seem unlikely bedfellows, but racing has a significant role to play in promoting important messages It is often said that when pulling up a speeding motorist the average British police officer used to jibe, “Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?” Even Moss himself claimed to have been asked this rhetorical question by an unsuspecting ‘bobby’. The insinuation is that the stars of the track are the over-confident hooligans of the road, yet the MSA believes that the opposite should be true – that our motor sport talent can and should be highway ambassadors. Motor sport is never going to be able to join the ranks of mainstream sports by claiming to save the NHS billions of pounds, but it does have the opportunity to play a positive role in society. The platform offered by motor sport can help the sport to engage a difficult-toreach target audience with messaging about staying safe on the roads. This philosophy has most recently been tested in an FIA Institute-funded pilot scheme run by the MSA to help young competition drivers understand the key principles of safe driving. The pilot ran at Silverstone’s Mercedes-Benz World, where a group of MSA Academy drivers joined a trio of Go Motorsport Regional Development Officers (RDOs). To run the pilot, the governing body engaged the services of Elite Sports Performance’s Brian Cameron and
Norbert Filippits of Testing Training International. Brian and Norbert are both key in the delivery of the Young Driver Excellence Academy – a global FIA Institute training initiative focussed on equipping young drivers from around the world with the skills and attitudes to win on the track, yet be true road safety ambassadors on the road. The day began with a series of interactive seminars focusing on road safety philosophy and the correlations – both positive and negative – between motor sport and road safety. Cameron elaborates: “It is important to ground the day with an awareness of the principles of safe driving and the consequences of not getting it right. We’re facing increases in urban accidents and those involving cyclists in the UK and the statistics tell a bleak story. The method we use is graphic but sets the tone of the day.” Filippits adds: “We don’t just need a skilled
We’re facing increases in urban accidents and those involving cyclists in the UK – the statistics tell a bleak story
driver on the road, we need drivers with the right attitude and behaviours towards themselves and towards others. Motor sport drivers can be the perfect role models and ambassadors for getting the message across to young people.” The cohort then headed outside to find a pair of Mercedes A-Class cars glinting in the Silverstone sun, ready for practical demonstrations based on stopping distances, distance keeping and seating position. “We start with making the driver safe, then their passengers,” says Filippits. “It’s amazing how many people don’t get simple things like seat and safety belt position right. We then turn to the actual road driving with a couple of braking exercises that surprise even the best race drivers.” As North Wales RDO Howard Davies says, these are very basic elements of road safety, yet it is vital that they are instilled at an early age and reiterated thereafter, as it is easy to become complacent after years behind the wheel. “I’ve been driving for 30-plus years and after that length of time it’s possible for standards to slip,” says the former British Rally Champion co-driver. “This course has really opened my eyes and brought back to me a few things that I haven’t thought about in a very long time. It was also really engaging
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