..:: AUTO REPORT AFRICA ::..
Related Articles
The Nigerian Auto Journalists’ Association (NAJA), the umbrella body for all journalists in Nigeria covering the automobile and automotive industry, has given a warm embrace to the global Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) programme .
The body has therefore concluded all arrangements to incorporate the DSFL into its maiden annual training for its members with Ford’s DSFL forming part of the programme which comes up between July 29 and 30 in Lagos.
Ford launched the DSFL in the United States in 2003 and the system has been improved upon and adapted to suit local conditions in many global markets over the years.
The DSFL, a free, advanced driving skills programme for newly-licensed drivers, is also a means of improving the defensive driving ability of experienced drivers. It is funded by the not-for-profit Ford Motor Company Fund as an effective method of improving driving skills globally and so contributing to road safety.
The driver training programme was launched in South Africa in 2014 and it was introduced into Angola last year.
The half-day DSFL training starts with a one hour theoretical session followed by practical training where the trainee is accompanied by a professional driver trainer in cars provided by Ford. The practical exercise includes a pre-trip inspection, experiencing braking distances from 60km/h and 120km/h as well as staggered following distances. Then there is an ABS braking exercise, a reaction test and finally a slalom activity to evaluate car control.
The first DSFL training session as the programme is formally inaugurated in Nigeria is scheduled to hold at the Lekki premises of Coscharis Motors on July 30 with NAJA members as participants.
“This year the Nigerian Auto Journalists’ Association is undertaking a programme to re-invigorate our members through a number of relevant training courses to improve their skills and knowledge levels,” the vice president of the NAJA and a member of the NAJA event organising committee, Mike Ochonma, explained.
“We are very pleased that we have been able to partner with Ford so that we can include the Driving Skills for Life training into our overall programme. This driver training is very important for our members as it is at the core of their profession. It is also supportive of the government’s initiatives to improve road safety in our country and to cut the death toll on our roads.”
The issue of improving road safety has been in the news lately in Nigeria, so the timing for the launch of Ford’s DSFL initiative is excellent.
The CEO of MasterDrive, an organisation which facilitates Ford’s DSFL programme in many parts of the world, Eugene Herbert, said: “The timing for the introduction of Driving Skills for Life by Ford in Nigeria comes at the right time with so much government focus on road safety.” He added, “My team is looking forward to introducing young Nigerians to the many benefits that flow from undergoing a Ford DSFL course.”
Only recently the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Boboye Oyeyemi, appealed to Nigerian motorists to abide by traffic rules and regulations to ensure the success of the Corps’ campaign against road carnage in the country. He added that road safety is a shared responsibility in which all road users must be active participants.
Oyeyemi said that his organisation was committed to meeting its 2016 goals of reducing road traffic accidents in Nigeria by 15 percent and reducing fatalities by 20 percent. He added that globally road accidents account for the deaths of 1.24-million people a year and they are the major cause of death among young people aged between 15-29 years.
“In addition, 91 percent of the world’s fatalities on roads occur in low- and middle-income countries even though these countries have only half the world’s vehicles driving on their roads,” Oyeyemi disclosed.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday, Ford said, as a committed and responsible corporate citizen in Nigeria, it is making a significant contribution to promoting safe driving with the introduction the DSFL programme this month in the country. This, according to the company, is in line with Ford’s decision to roll out this successful international programme to more countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
