Ford’s Driving Skills for Life Trains In Excess of 1,600 Motorists Throughout the Middle East and Africa in 2018

Ford Driving Skills for Life has wrapped up a successful 2018 having added programmes in two new markets – Morocco and Madagascar – as well as having launched a history-making women-only programme in Saudi Arabia, and reached more than 1,600 inexperienced motorists in 10 cities around the Middle East and Africa.

Providing free training and instilling safe driving practices, the DSFL programme offered an excellent opportunity to gain experience in the four main primary driving skills: hazard recognition, vehicle handling, speed management, and space management.

This year, Ford DSFL was run in the UAE (Dubai), Kenya (Nairobi), Uganda (Gulu Town), and four cities in South Africa (Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Rustenburg, and Pretoria), while Casablanca welcomed Morocco’s first-ever DSFL for three days of training in October. 

Antananarivo in Madagascar also joined the DSFL family when it played host to 50 members of the media, and a train-the-trainer for distributor staff, in September, becoming the eighth market in sub-Saharan Africa alone to benefit from the introduction of Ford’s pioneering programme.

In addition, on its return to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Ford hosted the special global debut of its DSFL for Her, a new customised version of Ford’s award-winning safe-driving initiative, helping to build confidence behind the wheel as participants there prepared to be among the first-ever women to be issued a driving licence in the Kingdom. The groundbreaking DSFL for Her course followed the landmark decision last year, as decreed by His Royal Highness, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to lift the ban on females driving in Saudi Arabia.

“Safety continues to be a key priority to Ford, and providing campaigns such as DSFL can only help reduce the number of road accidents, and increase young drivers’ knowledge and confidence on the road,” said Jim Graham, global manager, Ford Driving Skills for Life. 

“Ford also made history in 2018 when it hosted the first-ever practical hands-on driving training for women in Saudi Arabia – DSFL for Her – specifically designed to accommodate Saudi females embarking on their first journey behind the wheel of a car.  “These are the kind of occasions that make Ford exceptionally proud of the success DSFL has enjoyed this year, as the programme continues its rapid expansion, and evolves to adapt to needs of the markets in which it operates,” Graham concluded.

Note to editors: 
Ford Driving Skills for Lifehas gone from strength to strength every year since its initial trials in the United States some 15 years ago, and in Asia and South Africa a few years later. The acclaimed safe driving training programmewas established in 2003 by Ford Motor Company Fund, Governors Highway Safety Association, and a panel of safety experts to teach newly-licensed drivers necessary skills beyond standard driver education programmes. In 2008, the programme expanded to Asia Pacific, and in 2013, Ford DSFL branched out into both Europe and the Middle East, where it has enjoyed continued success. In 2017, the free programme celebrated reaching the one-millionth newly-licensed driver trained.

Globally, around 1.25 million* people lose their lives in road accidents each year, while between 20 and 50 million others suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability. World Health Organisation's statisticsindicate that the vast majority of traffic accident victims are young people, and that road accidents represent the second largest cause of death in the world for the 15-29 age group.

Now in its 15thyear as a signature programme of Ford Fund, Ford Driving Skills for Life has provided free training to more than one million newly-licensed drivers in 40 countries, which equates to an investment of more than $50 million, highlighting Ford’s commitment to promoting safety on the road.