The Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has joined forces with Ford to launch an initiative aimed at training the next generation of drivers. The move is in response to growing concerns over road accidents involving young drivers.
CoERS and Ford signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard at the IIT Madras campus on August 30, 2024.
As part of the initiative, thousands of students from 240 schools across Tamil Nadu will be provided with essential road safety knowledge and skills from expert trainers. The training will be practical in nature, with emphasis on responsible driving on the roads.
Additionally, those trained through the program will deliver additional training programs in their respective schools and traffic jurisdictions creating ripple effects on driving practices, traffic rules and hazard awareness, a press release states.
Training sessions will also be held to develop the capacities of teachers, traffic officers and traffic police personnel on road safety from a human behaviour perspective.
The statement added that by investing in young driver education, CoERS and Ford aim to reduce crashes and create a safer future for all road users.
Highlighting the initiative, IIT Madras Director Prof V Kamakoti said that involving the younger generation in the initiative is crucial to foster a culture of road safety.
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“We have already worked on improving driver behaviour and through this initiative, we aim to sensitise the younger generation (the drivers of tomorrow) towards safer driving practices,” Professor Kamakoti added.
Professor Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Director, CoERS and RBG Labs, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras, emphasised that early exposure to road safety procedures is essential to prepare young brains and foster behavioural changes that enable them to drive safely.
Speaking about the collaboration, Sreenivasan Janakiraman, Ford’s CSR director, said the aim is to empower educators to foster a culture of road safety, thereby ensuring that students and young drivers are equipped with the knowledge and skills to navigate the roads safely.
“This collaboration with CoERS and IIT Madras to inculcate activity-based learning pedagogy helps in developing the next generation of safe drivers,” said Janakiraman.
It is worth mentioning here that out of a total of 1,68,491 fatal road accident victims in the year 2022, 42,878 were below the age of 25 years as per a report on ‘Road Accidents in India 2022’ by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
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