Driving instructors go back to school to learn new techniques

by Irene Taylor
COURSES in “efficient driving” to reduce pollution and save petrol were first introduced for cabbies and official government drivers. Now it is the turn of driving instructors. The Office for Climate Change and the Balearic Driving Schools Association have entered into an agreement under which three local driving instructors will take an efficient driving course at the end of this month. This was announced yesterday by Patricia Conrado, the Office's director general, accompanied by Rafael Fogueres, head of the Driving Schools Association. The courses are financed by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving, a central government department. The course for instructors starts in Madrid on April 19 and will be attended by instructors from all over the country.
On their return, the instructors will give classes to at least 15 other driving instructors, until all 280 instructors in the Balearics have completed courses. In the long term, Fogueres said that the techniques would be passed on to learner drivers.
He explained some of the techniques yesterday: the driving speed for maximum efficiency is between 80 and 100kph, and it is better to keep the windows closed, he said. Conrado said that Majorcan cabbies have also attended classes, and their colleagues in Minorca and Ibiza will also be able to take courses later this month. She said that by driving properly, the amount of gases released into the atmosphere could be reduced by up to 20 per cent per person.