Driving Skills for Life

Project Report | Jun 21, 2012
50,000 Safer Drivers

By Aaron Abelson | Development Coordinator

Shanghai Employee Training Session

Driving Skills for Life is making excellent progress across the Asia Pacific and Africa region. So far we've trained 50,000 people, and we aim to train another 12,000 people this year.

Over the past several months, some of the most exciting work has been in China. In May, following a two-day Train-the-Trainer refresher program in Shanghai (the final leg of the regional program), Ford employees were given the opportunity to join a DSFL training session conducted by two South African professional instructors.

The half-day special event attracted more than 25 employees. Derek Kirkby, projects manager and Eugene Herbert, group managing director from the South Africa RAC Group, shared useful tips and techniques on safe and fuel-efficient driving.

Kirkby and Herbert went through the top 10 tips, which covered the most important elements leading to good driving habits, such as wearing safety belts, avoiding distraction while driving, and using the vehicle momentum to save fuel. Drawing on personal experiences and various real-case scenarios, the trainers made the presentation fun and easy to understand.

"If you keep these tips in mind and put them into practice everyday, by the end of the month you will have more money left in your pocket for shopping. I guess that is one of the motivators for you to carry on," said Herbert.

Tips shared during the one-hour presentation resonated well with participants. The trainers took the participants through a brief in-car training session designed to show the stopping distance of a car when it travels between 40km/h and 60 km/h.

"One of the 10 tips I learned is to always maintain a three second safety distance. Most people think it is easy but sometimes we fail to do so. At the presentation, RAC trainers also advised us to turn off the engine while waiting for long traffic lights, which can help to lower fuel consumption. I used to think that will damage the engine but it turned out to be a myth," said Lily Gu, an IT Planning Specialist from Ford APA.

Gu has 6 months driving experience and believes the DSFL session is a great way to promote good driving practices.

DSFL in Shanghai

DSFL Session with Ford Employees

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Apr 4, 2012
Training Trainers to Improve Driving Skills

By Aaron Abelson | Development Coordinator, AIP Foundation

Training Driving Trainers in Vietnam

Ford is going further to continuously improve the safe driving habits across the Asia Pacific and Africa region, conducting refresher training courses for its award-winning Driving Skills for Life programme instructors across the region.

"As an automotive leader, it is our obligation to help improve road safety, especially in markets that have unique traffic and safety challenges, as well as high numbers of new drivers." said Trevor Hale, Ford Motor Company, Asia Pacific and Africa’s Corporate Communications Director. "In the spirit of Going Further, we are offering advanced training to ensure that our trainers not only deliver safe and eco-driving skills, but are also able to influence participants to change their driving behavior, making the roads safer for all."

DSFL, which has been operating in the region for five years, is not only important so drivers learn the importance of safe and defensive driving, but also because the programme has a marked effect on fuel savings. The programme has shown to have a 20-25 percent short-term effect on fuel savings and 6-15 percent long term fuel savings on passenger cars with the potential to reduce carbon dioxide.

Critical to the programme's success is ensuring the trainers are of a high standard, which is why Ford is rolling out the Train-the-Trainer (TTT) programme. TTT presents an opportunity for DSFL trainers to get together with top calibre instructors, who ensure that they are fully prepared when they present the programme in their local markets.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, professional instructors from the German Road Safety Council (DVR) executed DSFL Train-the-Trainer courses for Ford DSFL instructors in ASEAN, China, India, South Africa and Australia. This year, a refresher TTT course will be held for the Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Philippines and China markets by RAC Driving Solutions from South Africa. RAC specialises in, and has a proven track record in, transport risk management, fleet management, vehicle inspection and driver training across a range of disciplines in Africa and the United States.

Notably, South Africa has one of the highest defensive driving standards in the world, ensuring that trainers will be elevating their skills when they attend the meeting. In a special two-day TTT session with RAC, not only will instructors have their knowledge refreshed, but they will also be given new information that will help them plan, design and deliver more effective DSFL programmes.

The training will include a defensive driving skills audio presentation covering the system of car control, distracted driving, I.P.D.E awareness, driving under the influence of alcohol, the importance of safety belts and six positions of a two car crash. A Ford DSFL presentation covering the three important components of safety, fuel economy and cost savings, and the ten tips which Ford DSFL is based on, will also be a part of the training.

Instructors will also present a lesson plan for their local DSFL programme to the RAC trainers and receive feedback on it. An in-car practical driving session, which will require each person to instruct and drive, will follow. Trainers will also be tested using the Dashboard reporting system, which will be used to ensure that all the safety and eco-driving skills are applied in actual driving.

DSFL has been in operation in the Asia Pacific and Africa region since 2008 and has now been bringing safe and economical driving to drivers in China, India, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. So far, 50,000 people have participated across the region and it's expected that in 2012 a further 12,000 people will take part in the programme, which last year won a regional CSR prize at the Holmes Report's first-ever Asia Pacific SABRE Awards.

The refresher trainer courses will take place on the following dates:

Thailand and Taiwan in Bangkok: March 14-16.

Vietnam in Hanoi: March 19-21.

India in Chennai: April 17-19.

Indonesia and Philippines in Jakarta: April 11-13.

China in Shanghai: May 7-9.

Besides the 2-day TTT program, the RAC instructors will also do a one-day session for Ford employees and dealers.

Training Trainers in Vietnam

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