PARENTS and teenagers are learning the latest driving safety techniques together at special driving courses aimed at protecting young drivers.

The course at Bank Top Neighbourhood Learning Centre invited 10 Asian mums and daughters to participate on Thursday following the Muslim Driving School programme currently being aired on BBC2.

The course, which is run by Lancashire’s Road Safety team begins with a hard-hitting presentation featuring stories from the Lancashire Telegraph's Wasted Lives campaign to cut the carnage of young drivers on our roads and includes pre-driver training for 15-19 year-olds on private land.

The Road Safety Team Officer for Blackburn with Darwen Council, Steve Johnson, who is also a Fire Service Watch Manager, said he hoped the scheme would drive down the unacceptable number of youngsters losing their lives on the road.

He said: “I’ve spent 26 years cutting young people out of cars on the roads and the number losing their lives is ridiculously high. Now I’m educating them, rather than extracting them from smashes.

“Driving skills change all the time and the point behind getting parents and young people in together is that we can get them on the same page and get the message out about road safety much earlier.

“As well as getting young people thinking about the risks they take we’re getting older drivers to brush up on their skills at the same time. Then when they practise together, they are getting more valuable experience before the young person takes the test.”

One of the driving instructors taking part in the programme Martin Smith of 3in1 Driving School, said: “It’s a great idea because we are actually showing parents how to be driving instructors and we test them to see if they know what to look out for.

“Driving is constantly changing and you have to keep an open mind about that and not just rely on your experience. Everyone who’s been taking part has been really enthusiastic.”

Ruksana Akbar, 41, who atttended the course with her 16-year-old daughter Zahra said: “I really came because I wanted to bring home the message of being safe to my daughter and to brush up on my own skills.

"There really are a lot of changes since I learned to drive and it’s a confidence booster for Zahra because she now knows what to expect.”