Driving Skills for Life: Asia Pacific Expansion

In the developing countries of Southeast Asia, traffic safety is a critical and growing concern. Indonesia alone recorded 24 million road traffic accidents in 2007, for example, resulting in nearly 37,000 deaths and more than 2.5 million injuries. The causes behind these terrible statistics are many, and include poorly maintained roads, inadequate infrastructure and the vast number of pedestrians, bicycles and motor scooters that often share roadways with cars and trucks.

The solutions to this complex issue will also need to be wide-ranging. Among them, however, is better driver education, and that's where Ford has recently stepped up its role.

This past year, Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa region implemented the Company's highly successful Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) driver education program in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. The DSFL program was customized to address the higher average age of beginning drivers in the region, as well as the unique driving environments within each market.

"This is a huge step in the right direction," said Greig Craft, president of the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF). "In developing countries, motorization is happening so quickly that road traffic injuries and deaths have reached an epidemic proportion. People are taking to the road in ever-greater numbers, usually without the training to drive properly or the fundamental understanding of driving skills. Driver training, education and public awareness are imperative to making a difference. That's what Driving Skills for Life is all about."

To help bolster DSFL's visibility and credibility to the relevant audiences, Ford is partnering with the AIPF to implement the program. The AIPF is highly regarded for its work with governments to improve road safety in developing markets. In each country, Ford has also secured the endorsement and support of relevant third-party organizations.

Ford launched DSFL in Asia with a "train-the-trainers" workshop in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2008, at which Ford professionals from Germany trained two to three representatives from each of the four markets. A press conference and drive training for the media were held in each country to launch the program, followed by a series of events in each market for selected groups and members of the general public that included both classroom instruction and drive training sessions.

To date, more than 5,000 people have participated in the training sessions, including nearly 700 in Vietnam, over 1,000 in Thailand and more than 500 in Indonesia. The Philippines accounts for the remainder. Ford Philippines already had a UN-recognized and award-winning road safety program in place called R.I.D.E., or Responsibility in Driver Education, which conducts training sessions in schools and communities. In 2008, Ford Philippines integrated DSFL concepts into 28 R.I.D.E. sessions in 18 schools, reaching 3,000 students. In 2009, Ford Philippines will re-brand and re-launch its road safety programs under the DSFL name, to provide local market clarity and fully align with the regional DSFL program.

The Asia DSFL program covers both safe driving and "eco-driving." The safe driving portion focuses on the use of safety belts, recognizing and anticipating changing traffic conditions, avoiding distraction and maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles in traffic. The eco-driving training includes anticipating road conditions, applying fuel-efficient driving techniques, avoiding speeding and keeping a vehicle properly maintained for optimal fuel economy.

The DSFL program aims to involve Ford dealers in each market, helping to raise their profile as responsible businesses that actively contribute to the community. Dealer participation also helps significantly with logistics, as they are able to supply vehicles for the training and often a venue for driving instruction.

In 2009, Ford plans to continue building on the momentum of the DSFL campaign in its Asian markets, with the official launch of programs in China, Taiwan and India. Sessions will continue in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam and Thailand. The 2009 program will also include an online presence which will be directly linked to the U.S. DSFL site. This will significantly extend the reach of the program within each Asian market by allowing an infinite number of people to participate online in local languages.

A grant from the Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services' Ford GlobalGiving Campaign helped launch the Driving Skills for Life program in Southeast Asia last year, and additional funding will help support the expansion into the three new markets in 2009. This is the first Asian initiative supported by the Fund.

"It is great to see Ford, a leader in safety, doing something about this critical issue," said the AIPF's Craft. "We believe [DSFL] will be the catalyst for further action to improve road safety as nations across this region deal with rapid changes on their roads."