In the section looking at the effectiveness of crisis evasion courses such as skid training, the organisation notes that until the end of the 1980s, every novice driver in Norway was required to follow a course for driving on slippery roads. This mandatory training was in fact skid recovery training. This training was evaluated.

It said that its crash data showed that novice drivers had more crashes rather than fewer after having attended the training. A similar adverse effect of a short mandatory skid recovery training for novice drivers was found in Finland. A short mandatory skid recovery training that was especially developed for truck drivers in Norway also appeared to increase the crash rate. Elvik, Høye, Vaa and Sørensen conducted a meta‐analysis on the effect of special skill training programs for drivers such as skid recovery training programs and evasive swerve training programs. Six studies were included in this meta-analysis. All training programmes appeared to have an adverse effect on crash rate. The least adverse effect was found for special skill training for passenger car drivers (12% increase of the crash rate). The worst effect was found for skill training that was especially developed for ambulance drivers (45% increase of crash rate).

The paper concludes that the Driver Behaviour, Education, and Training Subcommittee has declared that training programmes aimed at enhancing the skills to regain control in emergency situations should not be included in basic driver education or in advanced driver training programs ‘because, the learned skills in such training programs erode quickly, and such training programs result in more risk taking due to overconfidence. Basic driver education and advanced driver training should be aimed at improving the calibration skills of learner drivers and novice drivers. Well-calibrated drivers can detect latent hazards in traffic situations, do not underestimate the likelihood that these hazards will cause their adverse effects (ie they are aware of the risks), and do not overestimate their own skills (ie they are aware of their own limitations).’