Ford Sollers offers free driving training to young Russian drivers

16 November 2014

Ford Sollers is launching its Ford Safe Driving Academy through the global Ford Driving Skills for Life programme. The programme has been specially adapted for Russia, to take account of Russian road and weather conditions, and will be delivered in partnership with NGO, Road Safety Russia. The aim of the project is to teach safe driving skills to young people who have recently passed their driving test. Ford Sollers intends it to be a long-term project, extending into 2015.

Ted Cannis, President and CEO of Ford Sollers, said: “Safety is one of Ford’s founding principles and we are delighted that Russia has joined the list of 20 countries where Ford Driving Skills for Life is being successfully implemented. Over 600,000 recently qualified drivers worldwide have already completed the training offered by this programme and now, with the launch of the Ford Safe Driving Academy, it will be made available to young, newly licensed Russian drivers.”

Adil Shirinov, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Ford Sollers said, “It was a deliberate decision to launch the Ford Safe Driving Academy in Russia at this time of the year – in autumn and winter the risk of road traffic accidents is particularly high for inexperienced drivers. This global programme has been specially adapted for Russia and aims to enhance the driving skills of young, newly licensed drivers and to improve safety on Russia’s roads in difficult weather conditions.”

Over two million people pass their driving test in Russia every year. According to the statistics, the number of road traffic accidents involving young drivers has increased in recent years. In 2013, a total of 31,863 accidents were caused by young drivers, with 3,525 people killed and 44,402 injured. In comparison with 2011 the number of such accidents had increased by 23%, the number of fatalities by 8% and the number of people injured by 21%.*

“The system for teaching people to drive in Russia is currently undergoing fundamental revision”, explained Vadim Melnikov, Director of expert centre, Road Safety Russia. “The training programme is being changed to ensure the provision of better quality driver training and to reduce the number of accidents on the roads. That is why it is so important to identify best practice in driver training today, which can be applied in the future. The training provided by the Ford Safe Driving Academy will make a valuable contribution to this process and perhaps elements of it may be included in driving school programmes.”

The Ford Safe Driving Academy will include free practical training for recently qualified drivers to teach them driving skills in hazard recognition, vehicle handling, speed and space management. The training will be conducted by qualified professional instructors who have themselves been trained by certified trainers from the Ford Safe Driving Academy.

The training aims to reduce the risk of the most common causes of accidents on the road involving young, inexperienced drivers.

  • According to data from 2013, the main types of offence committed by young drivers are exceeding the speed limit (9,111 accidents) and failing to observe rules on priority (5,840 accidents). The most life-threatening offences are failure to observe speed limits (1,297 deaths) and driving into oncoming traffic (1,011 deaths).*
  • The main types of accidents involving young drivers are collisions. In 2013 these accounted for 51% of accidents, 53% of fatalities and 58% of injuries. The second most common type of accident involving young drivers is hitting a pedestrian (18% of accidents, 16% of fatalities and 13% of injuries).*

 Ford Safe Driving Academy sessions planned for 2014:

  • Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan) – 21, 22 and 23 November;
  • St Petersburg – 28, 29 and 30 November;
  • Moscow – 5, 6 and 7 December.

In order to attend one of the training sessions, please register at the official Ford Driving Skills Academy website (www.dsfl.ru).

Ford Driving Skills for Life is a global programme which was established by the Ford Motor Company in the USA in 2003 and now operates in 20 countries across the world. Over the last ten years, this award-winning programme has achieved huge success in the USA and has helped over 600,000 newly licensed drivers worldwide to acquire invaluable vehicle handling skills – over 100,000 people have taken part in practical training sessions and another 500,000 have participated in online training.  

* Data analysis by expert centre, Road Safety Russia, based on statistics from the General Department of Road Traffic Safety of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

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