Two women who say they were sexually assaulted by their driving instructor have called for tighter regulation of the profession.

They warn that learner drivers, particularly teenagers, are vulnerable to abuse while taking lessons.

These latest comments come despite previous highlighting of safeguarding issues within the driver training industry.

Abuse of power

Phoebe Horrocks and Morgane Chapman were abused by instructor Michael Florek while learning to drive in Gloucestershire.

Florek was later convicted of sexually assaulting five of his pupils between 2016 and 2021.

He subsequently took his own life.

The two women, who did not know each other at the time of the offences, have now waived their anonymity to campaign for stronger legal protections and improved safeguarding for learner drivers.

Horrocks said the abuse began almost immediately after her first lesson.

“Upon meeting him at first, he seemed polite,” she said. “He seemed like a normal guy in his 60s. Then very quickly he started touching me. He assaulted me multiple times during that first lesson.”

Chapman, who was 17 when the incidents occurred, described similar behaviour during her lessons.

“It was questions about my body, what underwear I was wearing, whether I had piercings,” she said. “He touched my breast and my inner thigh. I just froze. I didn’t know what to do.”

The women reported the abuse to police more than five years later, and both gave evidence in court.

Florek was sentenced to a suspended prison term and was banned from working as a driving instructor for 10 years.

Protecting the victims

Now Horrocks and Chapman are calling for driving instructors to be legally recognised as being in a “position of trust” under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Such a designation already applies to professions such as teachers, sports coaches and religious leaders.

If the law were changed, any sexual relationship between a driving instructor and a pupil aged 16 or 17 would automatically be illegal, even if the young person appeared to consent.

Horrocks said instructors have a similar level of authority and responsibility to other professionals who work closely with young people.

“Driving instructors have an active role in young people’s development and lives,” she said. “They should be recognised in law as being in a position of trust.”

The campaign has been backed by the Wiltshire-based charity FearFree, which supports survivors of sexual violence and has launched an “Emergency Stop” petition calling for reform.

Its chief executive, Debbie Beadle, said young learners should have the same safeguards during driving lessons as they do in schools.

“Learning to drive is an exciting and pivotal moment in a child’s life,” she said. “But for some it has become an experience marked by fear instead of freedom. Children should be given the same protection in a car as they would in a classroom.”

Duty of care

Safeguarding concerns have been raised periodically within the driver training industry.

Driving lessons often involve teenagers or young adults being alone in a car with an instructor for extended periods, creating situations where power imbalances can arise.

To become a licensed instructor in Britain, applicants must be approved by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and pass criminal record checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Instructors are also expected to follow a professional code of conduct.

However, campaigners argue the system relies too heavily on complaints being reported and lacks an independent national process for investigating concerns.

The Driving Instructors Association says it would not oppose the profession being formally classed as a position of trust and has previously called for mandatory safeguarding training to be included in the instructor licensing process.

A spokesperson said the DVSA already treats relationships between instructors and under-18 pupils as exploitation and has the power to remove instructors from the register if misconduct is proven.

Recognition

The UK government expanded position-of-trust laws in 2022 to cover sports coaches and faith leaders, but driving instructors were not included.

At the time, ministers said they had to balance protecting young people with avoiding the criminalisation of consensual relationships involving 16- and 17-year-olds.

The DVSA said the safety of learner drivers remained its priority and that complaints about instructors are taken “extremely seriously”.

For Horrocks and Chapman, speaking out has been part of their recovery, and they hope their campaign will help prevent others from experiencing similar abuse.

“We’ve changed the tables,” Horrocks said. “We’ve taken ownership of what happened to us and got rid of the shame. Now we want to make sure others are protected.”