The HERMES PROJECT

High impact approach for Enhancing Road safety through More Effective communication Skills for driving instructors. 

The HERMES project was conducted by the European Union and began in March 2007 and ran for 35 months into 2010. It focused on creating an easy-to-use training system for driving instructors on the subject of 'best communication skills, especially coaching' for in the classroom and in the car. 

A multi-national team of experienced driving teachers, psychologists, educational and coaching experts  were assembled for this purpose.

Driving is a 'self-paced task': it is the driver who makes the choices. Drivers must choose if they drive, when they drive, how they drive and with whom. But to be able to pace themselves well, drivers must have a realistic perception of their skills and must avoid being influenced by other factors (such as motives, peer pressure, stress...). A succession of EU projects have thus stressed the importance of driver training that develops the self-evaluation skills of learner drivers and addresses how higher-order factors such as journey-related contexts and motives - and an understanding how lifestyle factors and personal characteristics - can impact on driving. 

The use of coaching methods in driver training is seen to be a key way to achieve these goals. Coaching is about raising awareness, developing responsibility and motivating the learner to make the right decisions in traffic. It builds on the physical, emotional and intellectual experiences of the student.

HERMES drew on existing experience of coaching and other active learning methods in driver training and on expert advice in the greater coaching world. The end result was a highly practical training system which new and experienced driving instructors have successfully followed, including:

::: What is coaching?: The principles of coaching
::: Why coaching?: Aims and rationale of coaching in driver training
::: When, and when not, to coach: Practical application in driver training
::: How to coach?: Methods to be used by the driving instructors
::: Scenarios for coaching: Training exercises