MPI eyes mandatory in-car gravel road training for new drivers

Manitoba Public Insurance is eyeing a change to provincial drivers' education programs that would force instructors to provide in-car gravel road training.

The announcement comes less than a week after the death of Steinbach teen Tyler Klassen. The 16-year-old lost control of his vehicle while passing a car on the gravel Hanover Road West on Oct. 22, two days after receiving his driver's licence.

Doreen Dueck, a friend of Tyler's family, said there are many things about driving on gravel roads that the current system doesn't prepare new drivers for.

"For inexperienced drivers to be driving along a gravel road, they see a sign that says drive 80 kilometres an hour or drive 90 km/h and they drive that speed," Dueck said, adding seasoned motorists learn through trial and error to drive to the conditions, not the speed limit.

"[Young drivers] go whatever speed is posted because they don't know any different."

While driving on gravel roads is currently a mandatory part of the in-class drivers' education curriculum in Manitoba, the gravel road portion of training is optional and "left to the discretion of the instructor based on the progress of each student," MPI spokesperson Brian Smiley said.

The agency just happened to be in the middle of a larger review of the driver education program when Klassen died that includes revising the in-car gravel road component, Smiley said.

The review is being conducted in the lead up to a 2017 public awareness campaign about safe driving on gravel roads for drivers of all ages, Smiley added.

In the meantime, Smiley said parents can help ensure their teenage children are better prepared for driving on tricky terrain.

"Parents can play a very, very important role in helping their young drivers manoeuvre their way through the challenges of driving," he said.

Parents can do this by tracking the hours their children put in behind the wheel during the period when they have a beginner's licence, Smiley said, and by pushing them to practise specific elements of driving, including driving through school zones and highway driving.

"Go with your young drivers, jump in the passenger seat, watch their driving behaviours, try not to be overly critical … correct them if you can," he said.

"Working with them, helping them understand that when a speed limit says 100 km/h or 80 km/h, that doesn't necessarily mean that they do that speed. That posted limit is under ideal road conditions."