Member Article

Driving business to Downing

A North East entrepreneur with a vision for making the nation’s roads safer has been invited to discuss his ideas with the Prime Minister.

Lee Callender is the creator of Blaydon-based Search2Drive.com, a driving school comparison website aimed at helping 17-25 year olds select the right driving instructor by providing information, guidance and feedback from other learners.

Lee said: “Over 1 million young people pass the driving test every year, but the pass rate is 43%, which means around twice that number are actually taking lessons at any one time, and 35% of those who fail their driving test change their instructor for the subsequent attempt.”

Lee’s invitation to meet Gordon Brown next Monday has arrived following interest from his local MP, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), and West Lothian Police, who recently invited Lee to speak to 1200 Scottish schoolchildren to educate on safe driving even before they take to the roads.

The DSA is providing Search2Drive with mock Theory Tests and Hazard Perception questions which will also be published on the site to help learners prepare for their test.

Lee said: “We know that in today’s world young people can be vulnerable, and yet as parents we often encourage them into the driver’s seat of a car belonging to someone we know very little about. At Search2Drive we aim to make the selection of a driving instructor a much more informed choice, and at the same give driving instructors themselves a chance to publicise their achievements.”

Lee is also in discussion with the National Lottery Fund in relation to establishing a national charity to host a series of roadshows to promote safe driving amongst young people.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .