Calls have been made for driving lessons to be recorded after it was revealed more than 200 learner drivers accused their instructors of sexually inappropriate behaviour last year.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) received 246 allegations of indecency, sexually inappropriate behaviour or harassment from April 2018 to March this year, a threefold increase on the 75 complaints in 2015-16.
The number of complaints in England, Wales and Scotland rose sharply from the 150 made in 2017-18, which increased from 109 in 2016-17.
Action was taken against 42 instructors last year, with 10 removed from the register, according to figures released after a freedom of information request by the Sunday Telegraph. DVSA’s counter-fraud and investigations team is investigating 135 cases.
The rise in complaints prompted calls for commercial driving lessons to be recorded with in-car cameras. The Conservative MP Richard Graham said: “The authorities responsible for regulating driving instructors should consider the possibility of clearly positioned cameras being fitted in cars.
“It would provide proof if anything inappropriate occurred, as well as protect those instructors who have done nothing wrong from false accusations.”
The MP for Gloucester renewed a call for the country’s 40,000 instructors to be classified like teachers, so that having a sexual relationship with a student would become a criminal offence.
The DVSA said that when an investigation concluded there was insufficient evidence, driving instructors were warned about future conduct but not removed from the register. A total of 23 warnings were issued in 2018 along with reminders about the code of practice.
Carly Brookfield, the Driving Instructors Association’s chief executive, said safeguarding training should become part of the approved driving instruction qualification process.
“It’s important to point out that the overwhelming majority of trainers conduct themselves in a safe and responsible manner (246 complaints equates to only 0.6% of trainers on the register),” she said in a statement.
“However, considering the latest stats, we cannot pretend as an industry that there are zero issues with instructor conduct. The rising number of complaints of this nature is a concern and it’s crucial we look at why we’re seeing this increase, and work on how we tackle these issues.”
A DVSA spokesperson said: “DVSA takes the safety of learner drivers extremely seriously and will thoroughly investigate any complaints, involving the police when necessary.
“We do not tolerate any abuse. Driving instructors found to be threatening the safety of learners will be removed from the approved driving instructor register and stopped from teaching.”
The figures follow a number of high-profile cases of driving instructors being convicted for sexual offences against students. Last month Martyn Rees, a 37-year-old instructor, was convicted of 20 sexual offences including secretly filming intimate parts of his young female students during lessons in Manchester.
In 2017, 64-year-old Gary Rolinson’s jail term for abusing students was increased to five years after more of his teenage male victims came forward to say he had abused them during lessons in Dudley.