Ford Sollers: inexperienced drivers are responsible for 17% of road accidents in Russia

16 September 2015

A joint study by Road Safety Russia and Ford Sollers held prior to the launch of the second round of the global Ford Driving Skills for Life program in Russia has identified the main causes of road accidents involving drivers with little driving experience. Among those – failure to comply with the right-of-way rules and speed limits, as well as wrong way driving.

Young drivers commit such violations either on purpose or due to the lack of safe driving skills. Moreover, young drivers are greatly affected by various distractions, mobile phones mainly. According to the last year study held within the Ford Ford Driving Skills for Life program, more than 70% of young drivers in Russia use their phones while driving.

Those same mistakes are also made during qualification exams in driving schools. In a survey among State Road Traffic Inspectorate examiners held in 17 Russian regions in March 2015, 70.5% of respondents noted that future drivers sometimes tried to enter oncoming lanes or tram tracks. Moreover, 47% of respondents said that driving test takers occasionally try to run the lights and almost a quarter of respondents listed inaction in road accident prevention as a very common mistake. Lastly, 52% of respondents stated that their examinees often forgot to use the turn signals.

All this states the necessity of an integrated approach to the matter of driving education. This matter exactly has been discussed during a roundtable timed to the launch of the second round of the global Ford Driving Skills for Life program in Russia. The roundtable has been held in Moscow with the participation of the representatives of the State Road Traffic Safety Administration at the Russian Ministry of Interior, the Russian State Road Traffic Inspectorate and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Road Safety Russia, the Moscow State University of Mechanical Engineering and the Ford Company. A well-known Russian journalist, racing driver and traveler Andrey Leontyev acted as the roundtable moderator.

The resolution that has been worked out at the roundtable contains expert suggestions on the improvement of educational programs for young drivers in Russia. Possible changes in the driving license issue regulations have been marked as preferred directions on the matter.

Specifically, the resolution proposes to introduce a two-level licensing system involving a learner’s license issued for two years and a permanent license issued afterwards, provided that the driver has not had any accidents.

The final draft of the resolution will be sent to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Education and Science, and other non-governmental and educational organizations and institutions.

At the same time, according to the Ford Sollers study, the situation on the roads has recently began to turn for the better. In 2014 in Russia, there was an overall decrease in road accident rates, including in the rates of road accidents involving drivers with little experience.

In 2014, the number of road accidents caused by drivers with less than three years of experience decreased by 7% in comparison with the corresponding 2013 figures. The number of such accidents that proved to be fatal decreased by 4%, the number of people injured also decreased by 7%.

In the first 7 months of 2015 there happened 9 907 road accidents involving drivers with little experience; as a result, 1 047 people were killed and 13 756 – injured. These figures represent a decrease of 17%, 22% and 17% respectively in comparison with the corresponding figures of 2014.

The most law-abiding of them all are the women – only 26% of road accidents involving unexperienced drivers happen with a female driver behind the wheel. Male drivers, on the other hand, are responsible for 74% of such road accidents.

Despite the fact that, from one year to the next, the number of road accidents involving drivers with little experience has been decreasing, the Ford Company understands that the necessity and the importance of future investments in driving education still exist. This as well should have a positive impact on the overall state of road safety.

The Ford Driving Skills for Life program, launched successfully in 2014 in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Kazan, will be expanded. In 2015, the Defensive Driving Academy will be available in six Russian cities - Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Ufa, Samara, Rostov-na-Dony – from the end of September to the beginning of November of 2015.

Ford Driving Skills for Life has existed for 12 years already and has opened its classes in 20 countries all over the world. In Russia, in particular, we teach drivers to react appropriately to the severe weather conditions: how to brake, hot to keep the distance or speed up when it’s raining, or snowing, or when the road is icy. Moreover, educational programs in each country contain exercises that explain the dangers of speeding, driving under the influence or being distracted by, for example, speaking on the phone», - said Alessio Franco, Program Manager for Europe. 

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