Outdated and woefully incomplete, Malaysia's driving curriculum needs a major update

News flash: our regular Malaysian driving licence isn't enough, and most of us are vastly overestimating our skills as a driver. There I said it.

Stow away the pitchforks because I am on your side. What I am getting at here is that our driving standards are poor, and it's a problem that needs to be tackled from the root itself.

Outdated, incomplete curriculum

Fairly recently, I completed defensive and advanced driving courses, and to say they were eye-openers are to woefully undermine things. The two seperate days left me feeling tangibly levelled-up, driving-wise.

And I know that our driving curriculum is the 'revamped' version of our 2007 syllabus. 2015 added on the pre-driving inspection (RPK / KPP02) module but sadly, the part that matters most - the actual driving - stays the same.

Even still, the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research's (MIROS) 2016 study shows that the new driving curriculum only brought upon minimal improvements. So what gives?

We need a new philosophy

There's a couple of reasons why we're not seeing healthy positive changes in driver attitudes and subsequent accident statistics. An outdated syllabus is one, and driving educators who don't have the opportunity to go beyond the bare minimum is another.

I leafed through a copy of a recent Driver's Education Curriculum (DEC) handbook, and spoke to a couple of instructors to learn more.

Take defensive driving, for example. It being the book doesn't mean it's a topic explored in detail - especially when you realise that this book is mostly accessed only once, during the mandatory brain-melting six-hour long classroom session.

Which means that one of the more important aspects of driving is almost certainly just glossed over, especially in the face of fundamental (traffic signs and rules, for instance) things to also cram into the lecture.

And that's not just the most fundamental. We're willing to wager most of us were never taught things like how to overtake safely, how to judge proper braking distance, how to position your car safely, and general good driving habits.

For example, take a look at what's not taught:

• Lane merging on highways
• Dealing with large and heavy vehicles
• Correct ways to overtake safely
• Hazard anticipation
• Visibility vs braking distance judgement
• Dealing with blind corners

And that's just when its dry and bright. Our driving curriculum doesn't teach about night driving, and no further emphasis is given to the student to learn further about driving in the dark, let alone in different conditions such as rainy days.

The one-dimensional-ness of our driving curriculum shows in other ways. We still emphasise on headlights are to be used in 'low visibility' times only, and not in parking lots to warn oncoming vehicles.

One would think that instructors themselves would be more prudent, maybe not so shortsighted. But hope thins more - when asked if some of these extra skills are covered in practical lessons, the instructors told me that the onus is on the individual.

There simply isn't enough time

Most learners will get roughly 16 hours behind the wheel. Do you think that's nearly enough time for the instructors to anything beyond the bare basics?

And don't think that knowing what to do in theory is 'just as good'. Trust me - even most of us with years of driving experience won't know how to react correctly when our cars are skidding off a wet road, so why do we subject new drivers the same amount of trust right out of the gate?

Remember that for every eager new driver, there'll also be those who got their probationary licence, drive as little as possible for 2 years (mandatory 'P' sticker) and yet for whatever magical reason, deemed competent enough to graduate to a full licence.

They can be no better than they were 2 years ago, yet legally allowed to share the road with you.

All this is before you even factor in the actual quality of teaching and the rampant corruption (lesen terbang, heard of it?). When you stop and think about how low our driving standards are, it's straight-up scary.

What needs to change?

The entire philosophy of how driving is taught.

Most European countries have long switched their driving curriculum to focus on the impact of risky attitudes, hazard perception and self-monitoring processes.

This Goals for Driver Education (GDE) framework replaces the old approach of just mastering low-level skills, such as basic vehicle control, traffic routines, and interaction with other road users - a level which our driving curriculum is still stuck at.

It's a proven concept, with studies showing that adaptation of this approach reduces teen driving risk by up to 23%.

Moving closer to that framework wouldn't be a bad start. That aside, it would help if learners are offered or better yet, emphasised options to further sharpen their driving, rather than the "I'm done teaching you, now on to the next paycheck person" mentality we have right now.

If we are to improve as a nation with better drivers, the status quo simply isn't going to cut it. Our driving curriculum needs a major shake-up, but most importantly - we need more forward-thinkers who aren't afraid to drop their ego and admit they need to learn more.