Driver training takes to the smart track

There is a world of difference between manufacturing cars and training produce better and safer drivers. But Maruti, the country’s largest carmaker, decided to embrace driver training as a side focus after a ghastly accident involving a speeding school bus that plunged into the Yamuna, killing 28 children and injuring many in the National Capital Region, in the late 1990s.

The company had been working on road safety with the Delhi government and decided to engage with training all segments of drivers. “We set up the first Institute of Driving & Traffic Research (IDTR) with the Delhi government around 2000 and since then there has been no looking back,” says Mahesh Rajoria. Senior Advisor, IDTR & MDS at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. “We have been constantly introducing new technology and formulating an India specific teaching methodology based on learning from the experience of countries such as Singapore and Japan.”

The latest in the repertoire is an image processing technology and a mobile application operated on a smart track which makes driving instruction leap from individual perception to data analysis. When used along with locally manufactured plug-in simulators, it helps save fuel, time and energy even as it makes trainees adept at their skill. The track also functions on solar lights after dark.

Set up two months ago at the IDTR in Bahadurgarh, Haryana, for commercial drivers, it functions on four heavy vehicle and five light vehicle tracks. Fitted with 27 cameras, wifi connectivity and underground fibre optic cables, it relays back to the control room the trainee’s driving action on a real time basis. Christened Aritra (meaning navigator in Sanskrit — one who shows the right path), the software registers actions such as kerb hits, unscheduled stops, parking methodology and deviations from ideal path compliance.

Accompanying the software is a mobile app that is used by the instructor to halt the training and playback the driving lesson to the learner to correct mistakes immediately. “So, the app gives scope for review, discussion and going back to the formation through real time on the track while the control room data helps iron out undesired driving habits using data analytics,” explains Rajoria.

With the potential to be replicated in other IDTRs and driving schools in India, Maruti may be on the verge of setting a new benchmark in driver training.

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