Learning to drive turns easier; see what Maruti Suzuki has done

Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest carmaker, today inaugurated its 450th Maruti Driving School in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu. Now, Maruti Driving School network has centres in 212 cities across the country. These schools have trained over 5.3 lakh people on safe driving in the last 5 years and nearly 46 per cent of the people trained through MDS network are women, the company said in a statement.

Maruti Suzuki had initiated a structured and contemporary driving skill programme in 2005. The school has so far trained over 1 million people, it said.   Commenting on the milestone, R S Kalsi, Senior Executive Director, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India said, “Road accidents are cause of over 1.5 lakh deaths every year in India. Driver fault is seen as a prominent reason for such accidents. We believe that a scientifically designed driving training program will help to make Indian roads safer."

 "Our aim is to continue expanding the Maruti Driving School network and train 1.5 million people on quality driving skills through MDS by 2020.” Maruti Driving Schools (MDS) are set up by Maruti Suzuki in partnership with its dealers. MDS are equipped with advanced driving simulators that replicate the Indian driving conditions, practical training in specially designed training vehicles. 

Training also includes classroom theory based on scientific and structured curriculum. The trainers at MDS undergo a rigorous driving training by Maruti Suzuki and also follow refresher courses every year to ensure quality training to the people. In addition to MDS, Maruti Suzuki also manages 7 Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTRs) across country in partnership with state governments. IDTRs set standards for driving training, promote use of technologies such as driving simulators and train driving instructors.