Morgane Chapman's driving lessons had barely begun when the then 17-year-old felt the first pricklings of unease.
Her instructor, Michael Florek, seemed to find any opportunity he could to touch the most intimate areas of her body, while pretending he was trying to help.
'He would brush his hand across my breast, claiming he was adjusting my seatbelt, or brush my inner thigh while he guided my hand to change gear,' Morgane recalls.
Then there were the deeply inappropriate questions, from the colour of her underwear to whether she had any nude photographs on her phone. This continued for the 18-month duration of Morgane's lessons, although it took her many years to recognise that it was both harassment and sexual assault.
'At the time, whenever it happened, I just froze,' she says. 'I was so young and I had absolutely no idea how to deal with it.'
It would take six years for Morgane to feel able to report what had happened to the police - and to discover she was not alone.
Four other women had also come forward with the same claims and in October 2024 Florek, 64, from Gloucestershire, was found guilty of sexually assaulting five of his pupils between 2016 and 2021. He was given a suspended prison sentence and banned from the profession for ten years.
Sadly such assaults are far from unusual. Last year the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) reported a 64 per cent rise in complaints of inappropriate sexual behaviour by driving instructors over the past five years, from 100 in 2020 to 164 last year.
And as Debbie Beadle, of the charity FearFree, which supports those affected by sexual violence, stalking and domestic abuse, points out, 'these are just the ones we know about. The real number is far higher, as many young people don't feel able to make a complaint'.
Morgane Chapman was 17 when her driving instructor, Michael Florek, seemed to find any opportunity he could to touch the most intimate areas of her body, while pretending he was trying to help
There has been a slew of convictions for sexual assault by driving instructors. Last year Blackpool-based Jason Eastwood was jailed for a year for two counts of sexual assault - including one against a girl of 17.
In 2019 Martin Rees was convicted of 14 sexual offences, including the rape of a 14-year-old girl and assault against a number of his pupils. He was jailed for 18 years.
A year previously Neil Addison, from Fife, was found guilty of sexually assaulting 14 of his students during lessons over three years.
The number of convictions is why the charity has launched the campaign Emergency Stop, calling for tighter regulation of the profession and launching an online petition for an amendment to the 2003 Sexual Offences Act to include driving instructors in the category of those considered in a 'position of trust'.
This would mean any sexual activity with a 16 or 17-year-old pupil is illegal, even if consensual. While the Government changed the definitions in 2022 to include faith group leaders and sports coaches, under current law, driving instructors are only required to undergo a criminal record check - a huge oversight, says Debbie.
'It's really clear that if police officers, teachers and health professionals are working with anybody under the age of 18, who is still legally a child, they should not have a sexual relationship,' she says.
'The majority of people are going to want to learn to drive and many of them will be 17. That is why we are asking for instructors to be placed in a position of trust.
Sexual assault is, of course, already a criminal offence, but we believe this change would afford victims greater protection and act as a stronger deterrent.'
It's a view shared by Morgane, now 27 with a job in the music industry, who has waived her legal right to anonymity to support the campaign. 'When someone takes advantage of you like that, I don't think it ever leaves you,' she says. 'But it has empowered me to do the right thing and protect other women.'
Morgane, who now lives in Manchester, was raised in a small Cotswolds village where she was given driving lessons by her parents for her 17th birthday.
As she excitedly clambered into her instructor's car for her first lesson, she recalls her first impression of Florek as 'just a normal older guy'.
'I knew he had quite a big family in the local area and his son went to my school. And where I came from was so small that he'd taught a lot of the same people I knew from school. I had no reason to feel uncomfortable around him,' she says.
That changed very quickly. 'Early in the first lesson, he took me to a secluded old barracks and, when we got there, he asked me to get out of the car and read the number plate with him,' she recalls.
'I remember wondering at the time what the point was - he could have done that outside my house and I didn't need to know the registration number of the car. Now, looking back, I believe it was a display of power.'
What happened next, however, was far worse. 'In subsequent lessons he would take me to the same secluded areas of town - areas where he didn't have to concentrate on the road and he could concentrate on me,' she says.
It is at this point that the physical abuse started. 'He'd touch my inner thigh, my hands and on occasion my breasts,' Morgane recalls. 'There was always an excuse - he was helping me change gears or adjusting my seatbelt.'
Nor was the abuse only physical. 'He asked really intrusive questions about my personal relationships, what underwear I was wearing,' she says. 'On one occasion he asked if I had any piercings in my intimate parts. Sometimes he was rubbing his hands together, making his excitement obvious.'
'It was gross and I knew it wasn't right but at the same time he was in a position of authority and I felt incredibly trapped. I didn't even know how to give a name to what was happening, let alone who to report it to.'
That included her parents. 'I was scared,' she recalls. 'He had such control over me and I didn’t know how to report something I couldn’t prove. I also knew how deeply it would hurt my parents, even though I knew they would support me.'
Morgane failed her test three times before passing on the fourth attempt. Every time she failed, Florek would suggest it was because of the way she dressed. ‘He would say things like, “Well, if you wore a shorter skirt you would have passed. It definitely works because this girl did it and it worked for her”,’ she says.
When Morgane finally passed in 2017, she tried to put what had happened to the back of her mind, not entirely successfully. ‘It definitely affected my personal relationships with men. I struggled to trust them, although I didn’t make the link at the time,’ she says.
But it would take several years for Morgane to truly confront what had happened. ‘A lot of people asked me why I didn’t speak up earlier but it took time to fully process what had happened and, whenever I did confront it, I always came back to the fact that I didn’t have any physical evidence - it would be my word against his. I wasn’t sure the police would believe me.’
This sentiment is echoed by many young women who have undergone similar experiences. In 2018 Laura Bates, who set up the Everyday Sexism Project, disclosed that more than 100 women had reported sexual harassment or assault by driving instructors to its website.
One described how her instructor had asked her into his house for a cup of tea before suddenly grabbing her and sticking his tongue down her throat; another how her instructor had harassed and pursued her via social media after she had stopped taking lessons.
Like Morgane, many victims struggled to know where to turn: One contributor had initially reported what had happened to her to the driving school where her instructor worked, only to be told by the centre manager that she had no proof.
Morgane failed her test three times before passing on the fourth attempt. Every time she failed, Florek would suggest it was because of the way she dressed.
'With all due respect, it's only you two in the car,' she was told.
In 2022 Morgane plucked up the courage to go to the police. 'I knew what happened was wrong and it made me realise I needed to do something about it,' she says.
Soon she received a call from the police informing her that four other girls had come forward to make a complaint against the same instructor. 'All our stories completely matched. He basically had the same MO with all of us,' she says.
Another victim told the BBC how this apparently normal man in his 60s had told stories about sleeping with underage girls before assaulting them multiple times.
Florek was arrested and charged but released on bail and permitted to continue teaching as long as there was a camera recording each lesson. 'What kind of protection is that?' asks Morgane angrily.
She and her co-complainants met for the first time in court as they waited to give their statements from behind a screen. 'I felt sick at the thought of seeing him and was so grateful I didn't have to,' she says.
Giving evidence, Florek said that he may have 'accidentally' made physical contact with the students while teaching them about clutch control, or if he had to grab the steering wheel to avoid an accident.
The jury did not accept his claims and, in October 2024, he was found guilty of five counts of sexual assault, given a suspended prison sentence and banned from the profession for ten years.
He took his own life five months later, in March last year, the night before he was due to appear in court to face ten further charges of sexual assault between October 1999 and April 2018.
Florek's death brought some closure for Morgane but learning of those further claims propelled her to lend her voice to the Emergency Stop campaign which, alongside the adoption of a position of trust, is asking for the introduction of an independent complaints system and stronger mandatory safeguarding requirements for driving instructors.
'Discovering that my abuser had so many other victims helped me realise that it was likely happening to a lot of other young women and that's why we wanted to speak out,' says Morgane.
The campaign is being supported by Alex McIntyre, Labour MP for Gloucester, who has joined forces with FearFree and has subsequently met several victims of sexual assault and harassment by driving instructors.
'There are some pretty horrific cases,' he says. 'Obviously sexual harassment or assault are already criminal offences but unlike if you were a teacher or a sports coach, instructors are not in a position of trust, which means you don't have that extra legal protection provided in those cases.
'Of course,the vast majorityof driving instructorsare fantastic.What we want todo istighten the lawagainstthe bad actorsbecause the circumstancesin whichdriving lessons takeplacecan makepeople particularlyvulnerable.You’refrequentlyone-on-onefor longperiodsof time,sometimesin remoteareastopractiseyour manoeuvres.'
McIntyre points out that at themoment there is noformal complaintssystem at all,with many youngpeople feeling too intimidatedto go directlyto the police.
'If you have been sexuallyharassed by yourdriving instructorand you wantto makea complaint,in mostinstances thatmeans goingto the drivingschool,' hesays.'Butthe vastmajorityof drivinginstructorsare one-manbands,makingyou effectivelyhave to complainto your abuserfirst.Andthat’s stoppingpeople reportingit.This hashappened inseveralinstitutionsthat I am awareof.'
Meanwhile,campaigner Debbie Beadlepoints outthat it is notjust youngpeople whoare at risk.'Thereare olderwomen too whohave neverdriven.Moreover,some youngerpeoplewith disabilitieswho needa mobility licencecantake lessonsfrom as youngas 16,' shesays.
Morgane hopesa law changewould ensurelearningto drive isnothing morethan afun riteof passage.'It's areal milestonein your life,' shesays.'It shouldfeelsafeand empowering,notsomethingthat leavesyou traumatised.'