IIT Madras’s centre of excellence launches programme for India’s driving schools

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras' Centre of Excellence for Road Safety (CoERS) has launched a 'Three-Step Training Process' (3STP). The initiative was launched at an event titled 'Capacity Building and Quality Standards for Driver Training – Factoring the Human in the Journey for Safe Roads' held at the IIT Madras campus today.

The 3STP programme aims to bridge the gap between the existing trainers in the Driver Training Institutes and the schools' capacity and capability to obtain a better evaluation of drivers' knowledge, skills, and practice. The initiative by CoERS will provide the vocation and employment of more skilled trainers. IT will rate driver training institutes and schools to ensure that drivers receive the necessary training to promote safe on-road behaviour.

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The 3STP was flagged off earlier on October 11, 2022, by Shankar Jiwal, IPS, director general of police, Tamil Nadu, and V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras. During the same event, the '3 Gate Licensing System' (3GL) was announced which evaluates drivers based on their knowledge (Gate 1), driving skills in simulated scenarios (Gate 2), and practical application of skills in real-world environments (Gate 3).

According to the 'Road Accidents in India 2021' report published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), over 80 percent of accidents were attributed to human error, including traffic violations, unlicensed driving, and not using helmets and seat belts. The 2016 MoRTH report on road accidents in India mentioned driver error, accounting for about 84% of crashes in India.

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CoERS is funded by MoRTH and focuses on providing experiential and sustained learning to future adults on best road safety practices. The training of influencer programme, in partnership with M/s Red Chariots Technologies Private Limited and supported by SNS Foundation and M/s HL MandoAnand India Limited, offers simulator-based training to over 2,000 drivers from the Greater Chennai region.

V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras, said, “IIT Madras in the last couple of years is focused on ‘IIT Madras for All’ under which many programs have been launched. Today, with the advanced technologies especially the autonomous driving, it takes a significant amount of time to understand all the technologies. The training of drivers is very important. This initiative is a step in the right direction.”

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Thiru Shankar Jiwal, IPS, director general of police, Tamil Nadu, said, “I must congratulate Prof. Venkatesh Balasubramanian and other stakeholders for doing a great job on this report... We have been speaking about road safety for long. There have been empirical and statistical studies but there is a disconnect between the two. For the last two years, there is a remarkable dip in the number of accidents, almost 11 percent last year, and this year, almost 8 percent. However, the ‘cause and effect’ remains an enigma for us. We would be glad if academia, especially initiatives like CoERS, could unravel it for us.”