Experienced Licensed Drivers

Kwictech Interactive helps individuals to assess and improve driving skills. Road safety is a key issue facing Canadians. Personal, property and economic loss has had a tremendous impact; yet we continue to depend on the training we had as novice drivers. Ten to 50 years later, the road system and automotive technology has changed dramatically. And, our ability to predict and mitigate against a driver's risk of collision has also improved. Now is the time to invest in the driver!

Kwictech assists organizations to protect their bottom line and their very important personnel by designing and implementing road safety programs for those who must use our highways to travel between challenges and deadlines. Though we accept that driving is a full time job, situational, environmental and internal distractions become the primary focus of many drivers. The results are collisions and near misses that could have been avoided. Now is the time to invest in employee safety!

Coaching New Drivers Seminar
Driver Challenge Dinner Event

55 Alive for Mature Drivers
Canada Safety Council Workshop

Driver Competency Assessment Protocol In-Car Review and Debrief

Independence of functioning skills is the ability to accelerate, slow down or stop, turn, and gather information at exactly the appropriate time. This is the mark of an experienced, thinking, and exceptional driver. These drivers do not have collisions because the road surface has deteriorated or because they were surprised by unforeseen events. Though we tend to focus on the hazards associated with winter driving during the fall and winter, all information gleaned from the study and practice of "independence of functioning skills" will be applicable year round in any type of road situation. Learn to predict problem situations and to implement the solution in a calm and safe manner. The classroom session is a detailed discussion of the principles while the in-car sessions are the guided application of the skill. The seminar is provided for a small group while the in-car sessions are done individually. Call 613-256-0603 for more information.

Auto insurance costs too high? WCB payments rising? Is the wrong image being projected to clients and community? Do employees quote travel stress as causing lost time injuries? When the company name is on the vehicle or if employees must drive during to complete their work duties, many companies meet their moral and business responsibility to support the driver by asking for license transcripts. However, this has limited value in predicting the corporate exposure to the risk of collisions. As with any risk management program, policies, training, measurement, financial resources, and executive backing are essential to shaping attitude and encouraging superior performance. Kwictech Interactive has extensive experience with information security awareness programs. The principles and methodology required for an effective road safety program are both similar and unique. Similar, in that the focus must be backed by top management and must remain in the forefront of the driver's consciousness. In-car assessments and follow up training are the unique components.

Decrease your chances of a vehicle collision while learning how to improve your driving skills. Enhance your knowledge, refresh your attitude, and stimulate your awareness. Share your experiences with other drivers to learn how to take positive control over today's hectic and dangerous driving environment. Learn how light, weather, road, traffic, vehicle, and drivers contribute to unsafe conditions. Learn how you can become a more proactive and defensive driver. This six-hour Canada Safety Council course is enhanced with a post-course test to help you evaluate your driving knowledge. Many students use this course as a periodic self-check, preferring that the investment in training replace the wake up call provided by a heart-pounding near miss or the devastation of an unfortunate collision. The course can be adapted to address corporate issues. The fee for the one-day session is $85 plus GST per participant. Group discounts are available. Location and dates - to be arranged. (Travel costs may be extra)

Why focus on fuel-efficient driving? It is one of the most easily achievable ways of reducing our consumption of non-renewable fossil fuels - and cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Through international agreements, Canada and other nations are working together to cut back on their production of GHGs. When drivers use less fuel, there are financial, safety, and environmental benefits. The Road Safety Educators Association (RSEA) and Natural Resources of Canada (NRCAN) Office of Energy Efficiency have formed a partnership to introduce Auto$mart to driving instructors and, therefore, to the driving public. Kwictech Interactive will deliver this workshop to corporate groups on an as-requested basis. Please call Laurette Lafleur at 613.256.0603 to make arrangements.

Keeping eyes on the road is easier said than done for most drivers. Driver distractions are many. Whether it is concentration on an important problem, fighting fatigue, reliving last night's game, struggling with hot coffee or CD's, talking on a cell phone, or answering passenger questions, we all take our primary attention away from driving. Perhaps the distraction lasts for a few seconds, or perhaps for a lot longer. The results can be frightening. The Canada Safety Council with the support of Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association has a ten minute video running on VHS or CD (with support materials) available free of charge. If you wish to view a copy of the CD, please send us an email. If you wish to have Kwictech lead a discussion on the topic, please call Laurette Lafleur at 613.256.0603 to make arrangements.

Fatigue and frustrations can have devastating effects. It can fuel aggressive driving. The fifth annual Nerves of Steel survey commissioned by TheSteelAlliance and the Canada Safety Council indicates that aggressive driving remains a major hazard on Canadian roads. As many as 84 per cent of drivers surveyed said they had committed an act of aggressive driving in the previous year. The Canada Safety Council with the support of the TheSteelAlliance offers "The Road to Aggression" presentation and leader's guide. It is intended to remind drivers that when they are behind the wheel, safety must always be the first priority. If you wish to have a copy of the materials, please send us an email. If you wish to have Kwictech lead a discussion on the topic, please call Laurette Lafleur at 613.256.0603 to make arrangements.

A Driver Competency Assessment answers the question, "How much is this driver at risk when operating a vehicle or using the road system, in comparison to others in a normal urban driving environment?" During this practical driving exercise, all drivers are scored on four discreet variables (speed, headway, junctions, vehicle control) and two composite ones (space management and time management). This is done under a variety of conditions in both simple and complex driving environments. The conditions include normal driving and driving under the stresses of external distracters and internal distracters. The resulting profile describes the level of consistency as well as the degree of competency. It can be used as a measure of a driver's skill at a moment in time or as validation of the effectiveness of a training intervention. It can also be used as a diagnostic tool to define the specific training requirements of one driver or for a group of drivers. It is a quantitative measure that assists an organization to understand its exposure to the risk of collision. Laurette Lafleur of Kwictech Interactive is an accredited service provider authorized to perform DCA's for companies, individuals, medical practitioners, insurance firms, and the justice system. DCAs are an important component of a corporate road safety program. Contact us for details and a discussion of a few sample profiles.

Under the guidance of certified Driving Therapist, Ms. Lafleur offers driver rehabilitation assessment, counselling, and training for licensed drivers. This service is available to drivers who need assistance with the driving stresses associated with traumatic injuries, medical conditions, and changing physical capabilities. This is highly individual need and should be discussed on an individual basis. Please call 613.256.0603 for a free initial consultation.

Under the guidance of certified Driving Therapist, Ms. Lafleur offers passenger anxiety counselling and training for family members who are licensed drivers. This service is available to passengers who need assistance with the stresses associated with previous trauma or present day anxieties associated with road usage. Family members or friends who provide transportation services benefit from the in-car assessments and discussion about anxiety reducing strategies. This is highly individual need and should be discussed on an individual basis. Please call 613.256.0603 for a free initial consultation.

"What kind of driver do YOU want to be? Fast, good, daring, skillful, cool, sophisticated, confident, licensed, professional, comfortable? You must make that decision." The goal of this book is to help the new and the experienced driver to reach this goal in a socially acceptable manner and to stay alive in the process. This book is an excellent resource for parents who want to be a supportive co-driver during their child's journey to that of a confident, co-operative, and competent driver. Experienced drivers will appreciate the detailed explanations of fundamentals that we often take for granted. It is a "how to" book that is well organized; first dealing with the fundamentals then moving on to discuss more complex driving situations. This book can be obtained from RSEA or by contacting Kwictech. The total price is $55, which includes taxes and shipping with Canada.

Drivers need to understand how the task of driving or using the roadway in any capacity can be compromised if the driving task does not remain the primary task due to either inattention or distraction. Due to the cognitive nature of the driving task and the time required to make decisions when driving, it is imperative that drivers recognize the need to allocate attention to the primary task of driving when and where it is needed. All drivers must learn to divide attention as part of their ability to operate a motor vehicle. The limiting characteristic is to understand the demand of the primary task at any given moment time. Each individual driver must learn to become insightful if they are to become successful in the quest for crash free driving and it is the objective of this workshop to bring these issues to the forefront. This workshop discusses individual differences, attention, and insight. Since the literature is replete with the notion that driving or using the road environment in any capacity is a highly demanding cognitive task, the material discussed in this course will focus on these issues. In particular, it will look at those times when errors in cognition have been caused by either a state of inattention or by a distraction.