Warwickshire News Mine

Throughout the day the 60 drivers were put through their paces with three separate tests, two driving, one written. At the end of the day 12 finalists werepicked to go to head to head in the final of the competition which will take place on 14 October at Pro-drive. This will be followed by a presentation evening on the 16 October Coventry Transport Museum. 

The ‘Coventry & Warwickshire Young Driver of the Year’ competition will be an annual award over the next three years aimed at helping youngsters between 17-21 years of age living in the region become safer, more skilled drivers.

Currently around 1,000 young lives are lost every year on UK roads and
Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council Road Safety teams have teamed up with Peugeot and the Institute of Advanced Motorists to help address this grisly statistic.

“As a major local employer, Peugeot is committed to improving safety amongst our younger population,” explained Peugeot’s Managing Director, Pierre Louis Colin.

“If this initiative prevents one accident or serious injury it will be worth our three year investment in younger drivers,” he added.

Well known Broadcaster and Journalist Quentin Willson who is involved with the project as advisor and competition judge said “Peugeot’s initiative to help raise the skills of young drivers is hugely important and very welcome. As the accident figures show, there’s a conspicuous shortage of young driver training in the UK and Peugeot will be helping to save lives. I’m proud to be associated with this enormously worthwhile scheme”.

Christopher Bullock, Chief Executive of the Institute of Advanced Motorists said: “This Peugeot initiative is aimed squarely at younger drivers, who are most at risk when they first get behind the wheel.  We congratulate Peugeot and are very pleased to be part of the competition team.”

Councillor Kevin Foster, from Coventry City Council, who became a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists when he was 19 said: “This initiative is an excellent example of a major company working with local groups to help improve road safety. The annual competition will help get young drivers focussed on road safety and may encourage more to look at going on to improve their driving skills by becoming Advanced drivers themselves.”

Councillor Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council Environment Cabinet Portfolio holder said: We are delighted to be supporting this competition; an initiative which will give the participating young drivers’ knowledge and skills that will help them stay safe throughout their driving careers. 

Peugeot (and parent company PSA Peugeot Citroën) is one of Coventry’s largest employers, employing over 1,000 people at the Aldermoor Lane and Tile Hill locations.  Peugeot remains committed to the region and has run a strong Community Relations programme for many years.

Link to WCC