SELF-DEFENCE FOR DRIVERS

The UK's first self-defence course for motorists, lorry drivers and cabbies at risk from road-rage, car-jacking and assaults is being launched next week.

[UKPRwire, Fri Mar 17 2006] Britain’s first ever practical self-defence course for drivers, which includes lessons on unarmed combat pioneered by Israeli Special Forces, is to be launched this next week (March 21).

Increasing numbers of motorists, lorry drivers and cabbies faced with a growing tide of violent crime are to get self-defence lessons in unarmed combat techniques favoured by Hollywood celebrities and military experts.

AcciDON’T, one of the UK’s leading driver training schools, in association with self-defence experts Krav Maga Scotland, has devised a training programme to help professional drivers and ordinary motorists avoid road-rage incidents, reduce risks and protect themselves in almost any situation.

There were more than 10,000 reported car-jackings last year and a staggering 95 per cent of drivers claim to have been the victim of some form of road
rage - ranging from verbal abuse to violent attack.

"People are increasingly aware of just how aggressive the roads are these days," said Simon Johnston, of AcciDON'T.

"Women are more likely to admit their concerns than men but we hear tales from both sexes about incidents that have happened and for some people it can be very upsetting.

"More and more people are asking us for advice designed to diffuse any possible confrontations before they happen."

As part of the course participants will learn from a qualified psychologist to understand the reasons behind road-rage and human behaviour.

They will also be offered practical tips on how to keep themselves from getting stressed and angry which could lead to a situation.

“We are not trying to teach people to have-a-go but rather how to avoid a situation or diffuse one. If that doesn’t work we want to be able to give them the skills to defend themselves if they can’t escape,” said Mr Johnston.

As part of the two-day course, which is to be launched near Glasgow on March 21 and 22 before being rolled out across the UK, students will be taught self defence and personal security by experts from Krav Maga Scotland, using techniques pioneered by the Israeli military.

"This is the first course to teach simple, practical techniques which will enable drivers to protect themselves against armed or unarmed attackers," said Simon Leila, director of Krav Maga Scotland.

"It is designed for anyone from a learner or experienced motorist to a cabbie or lorry-driver.

"By teaching awareness techniques, backed up with a few simple self-defence moves we can provide people with a reasonable level of assurance.”

Roger Powell of MyCarCheck.com, which is licensed by the DVLA to provide details of stolen vehicles and other data to the public, said anything that helps to cut car crime is a move in the right direction.

“Vehicle crime costs consumers and taxpayers more than £3billion a year,” he said.

“More than 350,000 vehicles are stolen in the UK every year and as security is improved some villains having to turn to more aggressive tactics to get what they want.”

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For further details please contact: Simon Johnston of AcciDON’T on 01436 678 018 or Simon Leila of Krav Maga Scotland on 07050 1997 10.


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Notes to Editors:

1. Accidon’t is one of the UK’s leading driver training companies with instructors across the country offering a wide variety of courses to both learners and experienced motorists.

2. Krav Maga Scotland are experts in teaching the self-defence and fitness regime pioneered by the Israeli military. Krav Maga, which is Hebrew for ‘Contact Combat, is easy to learn and highly effective. The system is practiced by a range of individuals from Hollywood celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz to law enforcement officials.

3. In August 2005 international market research company Synovate questioned 4,000 motorists in 10 countries and found 95 per cent of motorists in the UK had been involved in or witnessed an incident of road rage in the previous 12 months. Only South Africa scored a higher ratio of 97 per cent.

4. One in six women and one in ten men say that they have been threatened on roads in the UK while according to stolen vehicle recovery company, TRACKER more than a fifth (22 per cent) of drivers feel so unsafe on Britain's roads that they carry some form of self-defence in their vehicle. The most popular form of self-defence was a personal alarm, carried by nine per cent of drivers, while six per cent admitted to carrying a club, bat or hammer. Four per cent of respondents said they kept a knife to hand and the same number said they had a self-defence spray stored in their car. A small number (1.5 per cent) claimed they kept a firearm in their car for defence.

5. In September last year a UN report branded Scotland he most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America.

6. According to the National Audit Office there are 10,000 car-jackings in Britain each year as tighter security forces thieves to use violence to seize vehicles. The total number of cases of vehicle crime in 2003-04 was more than two million.

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