This study was initially prompted by a request from the former Minister for Education and Science, Dr. Michael Woods, to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to investigate driver education in post-primary schools. Accordingly, the NCCA set up a steering committee which, in conjunction with the Department of Psychology, Trinity College, Dublin, undertook to determine the extent of the implementation of driver education and training programmes in post-primary schools in Ireland. This project is thus consistent with the Government Strategy for Road Safety 1998-2002, The road to safety, not only in developing linkages for road safety research with third level institutions but in its commitment to the agreement of the Department of Education and Science that road safety merits an appropriate curricular intervention in post-primary education.
The authors have been assisted in the work of this project by several individuals, most notably (and in alphabetical order) Gerry Dempsey (IDEA Ltd), Joyce Kavanagh, Jim McAllister (Garda RSU), Jim McGuire (Garda RSU), James Mulcahy (NCCA), Monica Schaefer (IDEA Ltd) and Rosemary Smith, and by the NCCA Project Steering Committee, the NCCA administrative staff, and the many teachers who took the time and trouble to complete our questionnaires. Many thanks for your invaluable help. The views expressed in this report (and any errors) are, however, those of the authors.
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