Instructor ‘disagrees’ that Guildford is dangerous for learner drivers

The owner of a Surrey driving school said she “totally disagrees” with new data released suggesting that Guildford is the second “most dangerous” area for learner drivers. Statistics show that there were 164 road accidents reported during 2020 involving provisional licence drivers in the top ten list. The list came via a Freedom of Information request from Bill Plant Driving School.

According to the figures, there were 20.29 learner driver road accidents per 10,000 provisional licence holders living in the Guildford postcode area. Lynne Von Wildenrath, from Prime Driving School in Guildford, said: “Not one of our driving instructors has ever said to me that it’s hard to teach or it’s dangerous. So I’m really intrigued that this has been found.

: Surrey’s driving test backlog one of UK’s worst and it’s ‘not expected to clear until 2024’ “The whole thing with teaching learners is that we teach them how to drive safely. Is it that provisional drivers are going out with their parents or friends and having a crash?

Or are they with driving instructors? Because that I don’t believe it at all.” Prime Driving School’s head office is in Chichester and Lynne said this city and Portsmouth are “probably” more dangerous.

She added: “We’ve got the A27 doing these big massive roundabouts. I’m just intrigued by the stat whether provisional drivers are having crashes with their parents and friends or a driving instructor?” Lynne has been a driving instructor in Guildford for more than 18 years and now trains people for the role as well as teaching learner drivers.

She asked: “If Guildford was dangerous, for argument’s sake, then how come there is a test centre for learner drivers in Guildford? “Surely the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) or the Department for Transport would close that particular test centre down. If it was dangerous then how come it hasn’t been published in public?”

Colchester in Essex had the highest rate of learner driver accidents on the list at 25.2. While the county of Kent appeared three times on the list, the most of any county, with Canterbury, Medway and Tunbridge Wells. Lynne said not one of the pupils she has taught has contacted her to say they have had an accident.

She said: “If you think about test centres closer to London then I’d say they are more dangerous surely because of the volume of traffic. “I don’t think Guildford is dangerous at all. OK, you have to get on to the A3, which is a section that they do, but considering the Chichester test centre where you get on to the A27, which is certainly faster because you’re doing multiple roundabouts while being on a dual carriageway, and there’s no crashes with learner drivers.

“The only other thing that I can think of that is happening is maybe are people coming over from another country and getting a provisional licence and are not used to the traffic volume or knowing the road rules. Maybe they are the ones that are having collisions. “Categorically DVSA driving instructors certainly do not feel that Guildford is dangerous at all.

Otherwise I would pull my driving out of there.” Do you agree about Guildford being a dangerous area for learner drivers? Join the conversation with other Surrey readers here .

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