A brief summary of information for Schools and Parents can be downloaded from here (.doc 29 KB).

For a map to the Charlton Driver Education Centre click here.

Background Information

The track is 1.7 km long, 800 metres sealed road and the rest gravel.  It features operating traffic lights, pedestrian crossing, hill crest, a roundabout, divided roads, stop and give way signs, angle and parallel parking bays and facilities for U turns and 3 point turns and overtaking.

4 Toyota Corolla vehicles are used for the program; 2 are manual sedans and 2 are automatics.

The complex offers a variety of programs:

1 or 2 day short course

3 day program

4 day program

The normal program is for 6 students to share a car, with half in the car and the other half in the theory room, for approximately three quarters of an hour, and then groups swap over.

A night drive can be included if desired. There are four vehicles, so up to 24 students can be catered for at a time.

Whilst in the car, students learn correct adjustment of all controls, steering techniques, correct road positioning, turns, correct roundabout usage, reversing, angle & parallel parks, U turns, 3 point turns, hill starts, gear changing and overtaking, and the vital importance of having good observation when driving.

In the theory room subjects covered include speed, alcohol / drugs, aggression, fatigue, peer group pressures, intersections and basic road rules.

Programs operate normally for two or three days, but are tailored to whatever the school requires.

Over 800 students per year, mainly year 10 level, are doing the driver training program.    Students come from a wide radius including Ararat, Horsham, Kaniva, Mildura, Swan Hill, Balranald, Hay, Barham, Echuca, Bendigo, Kyneton, Gisborne, Daylesford and Ballarat.

Students are taught the very basics of how to drive a vehicle in a safe and predictable manner. They are taught how to drive “systematically” ( a set order of doing things ), and how to develop “good observation” so they are then in a position to take evasive action if needed.

The aim is to give these 15-16 year olds a “solid foundation” on which to build the rest of their driving experiences.