The Evidence-Led Behaviour Change Method™

I’ve spent over 23 years working in driver education, and one thing has become increasingly clear to me – most problems on our roads are not caused by a lack of knowledge, but by human behaviour.

Alongside delivering police diversionary courses such as Speed Awareness, Motorway Awareness, Safe and Considerate Driving, and What’s Driving Us, I work with driver trainers to develop activity-led, client-centred behavioural change methods that actually work in the car.

Much of my day-to-day work involves people who already know the rules, yet still struggle with habits, pressure, distraction, stress, and split-second decision-making behind the wheel.

That experience fundamentally changed how I view driver training.

For decades, road safety has been shaped by engineering, enforcement, and education – safer cars, safer roads, clearer rules, and stronger consequences.

Yet driver training itself has changed very little, despite growing evidence that behaviour, motivation, and emotion play a critical role in how people actually drive.

Telling someone what to do, or explaining the rules again, rarely changes what happens when they are late, stressed, distracted, or convinced that “this time doesn’t matter”.

My work focuses on driver behaviour – not just what people know, but how they think, decide, and act in real driving situations.

I use evidence-based behavioural change approaches to help drivers and learners understand their own choices, challenge unhelpful beliefs, and develop strategies they can use when no one is sitting next to them. Creating space for honest, adult conversations is central to this, particularly where people feel defensive, pressured, or conflicted about their driving behaviour.

My approach has been shaped by extensive behavioural change and coaching CPD over many years, including work with organisations such as Road Safety GB and UKROEd, and learning alongside practitioners such as Lisa Dorn and Ian Edwards. A year-long coaching and client-centred qualification completed in 2011 was a turning point in my career, challenging many accepted norms within driver education and reshaping how I work with both instructors and drivers.

Over the years, I’ve had to unlearn as much as I’ve learned. What I now teach is grounded in practice, reflection, and real-world evidence – not theory alone. I support driver trainers to move beyond telling and explaining, and instead engage learners in ways that help them self-analyse, understand what’s happening in their own heads, and make better decisions under pressure.

I believe that if we want to reduce harm on our roads, behavioural change shouldn’t start after someone has been caught speeding or making a mistake. It needs to be embedded from the very beginning of learning to drive, so safer driving becomes a skill for life – not just something that’s tested, enforced, or corrected after the fact.