Do you remember the excitement of passing your driving test and getting behind the wheel of your first car? If that was decades ago, you'll know that both driving and cars have changed significantly since then. That's why, for the fourth consecutive year, Zavarovalnica Triglav, in cooperation with AMZS, is organising driving refreshers for senior drivers across Slovenia. So far, more than 1,500 drivers aged 60 and over have participated in the programme. This week, the penultimate stop in this year’s very popular campaign was in Trbovlje.
"Instructor-led driving refreshers are designed to help older drivers stay mobile for longer, and to do so safely. The participants have embraced this opportunity to refresh their skills, and the results have been very encouraging. These drivers bring years of experience behind the wheel, countless kilometres driven, and a wealth of tolerance and wisdom. All of these qualities make older drivers true giants of the road, and with this campaign we want to celebrate the millions of safe kilometres they’ve covered over the decades," said Ana Cergolj Kebler, head of safe mobility programmes at Zavarovalnica Triglav.
A driving refresher is a free urban driving lesson conducted with one of AMZS’s eight experienced instructors, which allows seniors to drive their own vehicles. This gives the participants the chance to familiarise themselves with some of the helpful new features in their cars, such as the safety and assistance systems, which they can then start using more actively. A key feature of the driving refresher is that seniors can work with the instructor to resolve any issues that arise during the driving session itself. The driving session is always followed by a short period in which the instructor provides feedback and advice, as needed.
The largest Slovenian insurance company understands the vital role that experience and safety play for all generations on the road. To honour this, they have established a community for their policyholders aged 60 and over, celebrating the thousands of kilometres they've driven and the decades of diverse stories and experiences accumulated behind the wheel.
Respecting their years of experience and supporting the giants of driving, Zavarovalnica Triglav and AMZS instructors will continue to travel across Slovenia until mid-November. They will refresh the driving skills of seniors in Trbovlje, Murska Sobota, Celje, Ljubljana, Koper, and the last stop will be in Kranj, offering around 300 driving sessions in total.