Coach driver instructor leaves Inverness to take up training post in Zambia for 12 months

Stagecoach send one of their driving instructors to Zambia to help improve coach driving skills

A coach driver instructor from Inverness is taking his expertise over to Zambia where he plans to play a part in helping to raise the safety standards of drivers in the country.

In his regular job, Neil Rettie is a driving instructor with Stagecoach. It’s through the transport provider’s link with the charity Transaid that the opportunity arose for Mr Rettie to take up a 12 month placement in Zambia. Stagecoach is funding the instructor’s year long stay in the country.

However the Scottish driver has already had a taster of life in Zambia after he spent 3 months in the country’s capital, Lusaka, last year working with 60 coach drivers to improve driving standards. Mr Rettie is now in the middle of another 3-month long stint in Zambia as he is working in-conjunction with the Zambian Road Transport and Safety Agency to help develop their guidelines and curriculum.

Road accidents in Zambia cost the country an estimated £167 million a year. It is hoped that by focusing upon re-educating drivers on safe driving practices, this number can be dramatically reduced.

Neil Rettie says he can’t wait to get started on the training scheme. After his first taste of teaching in the Zambia, he described his students as being very keen to learn and he enjoyed having the opportunity to share his skills.