HEIDELBERG, Germany - Army Europe Soldiers and Civilians will find it easier to comply with driver safety training requirements thanks to a change to the Army Traffic Safety Training Program.
According to Michael Schwarz, Installation Management Command-Europe safety chief, Army safety officials are streamlining driving safety training to eliminate redundant training and to provide a more robust standardized Army-wide driver safety training program.
"This change falls squarely into IMCOM's strategy of 'Safety-First, Last and All the Time,'" said Schwarz. "In our Safety Line of Effort we are committed to ensuring that the Installation Management Community proactively and aggressively ensures safe, secure installations for Soldiers, families and Civilians by making safety everyone's responsibility."
The change calls for driver safety training to focus efforts on a more efficient and comprehensive training collection while doing away with advanced and supervisors courses. Inexperienced drivers prior to these changes were required to attend initial training at AIT, Intermediate Driver Course (IDC) and Advanced Driver Course (ADC).
"We want to offer drivers with the very best and robust training that is available," said Schwarz. "This change enables the Army to do that more efficiently and effectively."
In addition to a more robust and efficient Army driver safety program, the move embraces a change to the DOD Traffic Safety Program that requires officials to provide remedial drivers training.
The remedial training program will be based on the American Institute for Public Safety's "RoadRageous" driver course and will be provided to drivers who are tagged with moving violations or at-fault accidents, said Schwarz.
Because RoadRageous is not scheduled to be fully implemented until early 2011, the plan is to use the ATSTP Intermediate Driver Course (IDC) to fill Remedial Driver Training requirements in the interim, according to Army safety officials. Students will have to enroll in the IDC through the Army IMCOM Registration System (AIRS) website at https://airs.lmi.org/.
"RoadRageous is a popular remedial training course already offered at various stateside bases. This change formalizes that course as part of our driver safety risk mitigation effort," said Schwarz. "It's focused on driver behavior and attitudes and is designed to change the way people think, feel and behave behind the wheel."
The change to the Army driver safety program was effective immediately upon receipt of an Army message sent to leadership and safety officials April 6. Safety officials then reached out to students who had enrolled in advanced or supervisors courses to inform them that the courses were cancelled.
"Some people were surprised and wondered why this change was made, thinking that we were diminishing our safety posture," said Schwarz. "However, after we explained that the change will actually increases the effectiveness of training by offering drivers a more better driver training package with the additional remedial course, there was overwhelming acceptance for the change."
Individuals with question about the new safety policy should contact local garrison safety offices.
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