Call to 'come clean'.

MOTORING organisation the AA has demanded Government action to force driving schools to "come clean" on when they use trainee instructors to teach learner drivers.

At present, the only legal requirement to disclose that an instructor is learning on the job is for the trainee to display an official pink badge in the windscreen.

But an AA/Populus poll of more than 13,000 AA members showed only 6% knew what the badge meant, with 16% wrongly believing it signified the instructor was fully qualified.

The poll also showed that 97% reckoned driving schools should be required to tell learners if their instructor is a trainee.

The AA said it believed trainees made up an eighth of all instructors and yet driving schools could charge full rates for lessons with trainees.

As many as 86% of those polled said charges should be lower for lessons with trainee instructors.