Road accidents are often the result of poor driving habits and skills. Most of us tend to forget the basics of good driving and put ourselves and others on the road at risk. To inculcate good driving skills in drivers, Ford India conducts the Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) program. The unique DSFL program is a CSR initiative by Ford to train new and seasoned drivers in safe, efficient and eco-friendly driving through a mix of theory and practical sessions.

“We take a lot of things for granted while driving, and with time get ignorant about certain vital things that are of utmost importance for safety. This event was a great refresher about these basic precautions. It reminded us that we don’t need to wait for an accident to happen before incorporating basic safety precautions into our routine.” said Amit Chhangani of Motoroids.com

Amit was part of a group of bloggers whom Ford India had invited to take part in a DSFL session at the Maraimalai Nagar plant, near Chennai. The bloggers spent an eventful two days in Chennai.

Title: Michael Boneham, President and MD of Ford India with bloggers at the Driving Skills for Life session at the Ford facility at Maraimalai Nagar near Chennai

On the first day, Mike Boneham, President & MD, Ford India, and Nigel Wark, Executive Director, Marketing, Sales and Service, made presentations to the visitors on the success of Ford’s newly launched car, the Ford Figo. The bloggers were then taken on a tour of Ford’s world-class facility. The group came away impressed after the visit to various assembly lines at the body shop, stamping, TCF and the new engine plant. “It’s heartening to see this big facility pumping out 1000s of Figos,” said Karthick of Vicky.in, who had, in fact, visited the plant a few years ago. Karthick was also impressed with the eco-friendliness of the plant, and said he was looking forward to the day when Ford begins exports of the Figo.

The second day was reserved for honing our car-driving skills. The seasoned bloggers, no mean drivers themselves, gamely participated in the theory sessions; and later in the practical demonstrations with the Figo and Fiesta on test tracks. The group had an engaging discussion on road safety, and eco-friendly and economical driving. The bloggers also exchanged insightful tips and learnings.

Title: Rush Parekh (Team-BHP.com) driving the Ford Figo

“DFSL is a good initiative taken up by Ford. We as auto journalists play a very important part in educating the people about safety and driving habits and not just about cars,” said Ritesh, who blogs at Dance with Shadows. We couldn’t agree more, Ritesh.

For more pics of the event, please check out our albums of – the Plant Tour and the DSFL session on Facebook

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Chennai Plant, DSFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.