KUALA LUMPUR: Ford Motor Company has continued its global Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) programme in Malaysia, hosting workshops for students at the Malaysian Multimedia University (MMU), aimed at raising awareness of safe driving.

Ford’s half-day DSFL workshops – provided free-of-charge – emphasise the importance of safe driving skills for Malaysian motorists.

According to The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (MIROS), Malaysia recorded a total of over 476,000 road crashes which resulted in over 6,600 fatalities in 2014.

The Driving Skills for Life programme is aimed at educating drivers on necessary and practical skills for driving safely, helping to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries associated with traffic accidents.

DSFL training includes both classroom session covering theory, as well as a hands-on driving session to apply the learnings.

In addition to the programme’s core content, an emphasis on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol has been incorporated this year, including having participants wear specially designed gear that helps simulate the experience of driving while movement, coordination and alertness are impaired.

“Being a new driver and a huge car enthusiast, I loved having the chance to learn new skills to drive safer on the road. The programme taught me to keep a safe distance between my vehicle and the car in front, and how to use proper braking techniques in an emergency situation,” said a DSFL participant and MMU first-year Computer Science student Noor Azlan bin Mahmud.

The DSFL workshops at MMU, Ford’s flagship global corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, builds on Ford’s outreach to young drivers in Malaysia, which began with DSFL at Taylor’s University earlier in the year, and will continue in 2016.

By the end of 2015, Ford DSFL will reach more than 150,000 people with behind-the-wheel training and hundreds of thousands more through online training, school programmes and safe driving campaigns in 32 countries.

In addition to Malaysia, DSFL training is provided in China, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

In Asia, Ford DSFL is now in its eighth successful year of training licensed drivers of all ages.

“Driving Skills for Life is a hands-on driver training programme designed to help drivers develop essential skills to be safe on the road, which is especially important for newly licensed drivers like university students.”

“As a global company with an established presence in Malaysia, we are passionate about instilling road safety awareness among drivers, with the aim of making the roads safer for drivers, motorists and pedestrians,” said Ford Motor Company managing director (Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets) David Westerman.

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