brand logo

Reinventing learning to drive: The How To Drive Driving School

10 Jul 2021

Driving has always been a risky business. As long as there have been cars, there have been reckless (or entitled) drivers. Sri Lanka’s roads can often look like a joke given how people drive on it – the many Facebook and other social media pages dedicated to people driving badly are testaments to this. Recent but hardly unprecedented stories of cars crashing head-first into coffee shops also come to mind. But what is it that leads to Sri Lankan roads sometimes feeling like a no-holds-barred video game? The team at the How To Drive Driving School believes it is a combination of a lack of responsibility and a lack of knowledge. The fact that after a big accident, people are mostly just temporarily locked up and given a big fine, also plays a part. Reckless and uninformed driving is a problem that needs to be addressed quickly before it can become a disaster. The knowledge of a driver needs to extend beyond simply knowing how to change gears, turn, and get a vehicle from one place to another; above all, drivers need to understand the responsibility they are taking on, not just for themselves, but for their passengers and those around them. A lot of the time, this extra knowledge is simple enough; it’s things like keeping a safe distance between other cars, paying close attention to road rules, and then having a basic understanding of how cars work, and how to maintain them and spot a technical problem. It is the necessity to impart this knowledge responsibly that makes the How To Drive Driving School tick. A fairly new entrant to the driving school landscape, How To Drive is all about equipping its students with knowledge and skills and creating responsible drivers. One future-forward way How To Drive does this is through using state-of-the-art driving simulators to give their students greater knowledge and experience of a variety of driving conditions and scenarios in a risk-free environment.  Brunch spoke to How To Drive Driving School Head of Business Development Shenya Guruge to learn more about How To Drive and how they are quietly revolutionising teaching people to drive.    [caption id="attachment_148770" align="alignright" width="241"] "With our ordinary licence programme, we took the classroom experience online apart from the mechanical topics. We were able to conduct online classes through our YouTube channel, and we have made these sessions available to the public too. These videos focus mainly on rules and regulations"  How To Drive Driving School Head of Business Development Shenya Guruge[/caption] Tell us about the story of How To Drive. The How To Drive story began in September 2018. Our Managing Director Hon. Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara, who is also the present Chief Custodian of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, noticed drivers making lots of mistakes on the road. These mistakes created a lot of traffic and are also actually just a huge cost. From medical costs resulting from being in an accident to economic and social problems created for families who have lost a loved one in an accident, to costs of repairs and finding parts, there is even an impact on foreign exchange.  We observed that this serious issue comes from proper knowledge not being given to drivers, which is how the How To Drive Driving School came to be. In general, people don’t think driving is a big deal and that anyone can do it, but driving is a serious business. It is similar to meditation in a way – you need patience and focus, and when you get behind the wheel, you need to understand that you don’t own the road. Driving is a big responsibility and drivers need to take that responsibility. When driving, we are responsible for our lives, our passengers’ lives, our vehicles, and the lives of anyone we might endanger if we’re not driving carefully. Every driver has this responsibility, it doesn’t matter what their occupation or social standing is.  The purpose of driving is to complete a journey, to get from point A to point B, but most drivers behave like they own the road; they violate road rules and safety and basically think they can do anything. Part of this is because drivers are not properly educated and told that this is something serious, that a small mistake or miscalculation can lead to drivers sacrificing their own lives or someone else’s. This is where How To Drive comes in. We have noticed that there are more advanced mechanisms for issuing driving licences abroad. One key aspect is delivering knowledge, and for us, that was the elementary thing.    [caption id="attachment_148769" align="alignleft" width="249"] How To Drive Driving School Managing Director Hon. Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara[/caption] How does How To Drive differ from other driving schools? The How To Drive product portfolio is about offering driving solutions. While we go as a driving school, we’re not an ordinary driving school. We carry a very comprehensive normal driving licence-obtaining programme and we also offer tailor-made courses in advanced driving, defensive driving, and a maintenance and safety programme. Advanced driving is used in most modern countries, and professional drivers can use this course to enhance their knowledge and skill. The programme is Level 3-accredited by the Tertiary and Vocational Educational Commission (TVEC). This is a course many drivers take before going abroad or driving professionally.  Defensive driving is something that How To Drive works hard to market. In Sri Lanka, driving has something of a wow factor which leads to it not being taken seriously. The fact is, road accidents are a major cause of death daily, and this is something we can easily gain control of. Defensive driving is a concept we all need to embrace. There are several multinational companies in Sri Lanka that have regulations that ask executives who are given vehicles to have extra training to avoid unnecessary accidents. MNCs are slowly paying attention to this need. We also conduct defensive driving programmes with the Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force as well as for the petroleum industry. We’re also working with the TVEC to develop programmes for people looking to drive abroad and also programmes in which people driving locally get promoted.  The majority of the drivers who register for our basic driving course are teenagers, and we understand the role technology plays in their thought process, which is why we have introduced driving simulators into our courses.  Our basic driving course takes place across three stages. The first stage is a knowledge-based classroom study which covers road rules and signs as well as mechanical knowledge, which is something many people don’t teach. At How To Drive we feel it important to share this knowledge so that in the case of a breakdown, a driver will know what kind of assistance to ask for and what clues to give technicians.  The second aspect of the course is simulator-based and shows students the finer points of learning to drive – the way to sit, hold the wheel, how much space to keep between them and the steering wheel for airbags to be effective, as well as allowing students to make all the little mistakes that young drivers make in a safe setting. How To Drive uses the Vertex Driving Simulator, an Indian simulator with over 40 different driving conditions and scenarios for students to practice with, which gives students more practical experience before they get behind the wheel of an actual car. How To Drive is Vertex’s authorised agent in Sri Lanka, and while there are some other driving schools that use simulators, those simulators are not as advanced as the Vertex Simulator. The different conditions the simulator prepares them for are dense traffic, navigating roundabouts and parallel parking, driving at night, and driving on an expressway (which gives them a unique edge because no driving school can take students on an expressway as part of training). The simulator allows students to experience such situations in a risk-free environment and gives them the ability to adapt to different situations more easily and makes them more comfortable for when they evolve to driving a car in real life, which is the third stage of the course.    [caption id="attachment_148773" align="alignright" width="484"] The driving simulator [/caption] Does using a simulator make driving courses longer for students? How does it fit into the normal system of applying for a licence?  The normal process is that from the time of registering with the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) and facing a written exam, there is a three-month training period for all students to get extra training. Elsewhere, students receive about five to 10 lessons from their trainers, usually in small groups with other learners. At How To Drive, they receive this plus 15 hours of simulator training (15 individual lessons, one hour each).  Once they evolve to driving physically, they still receive individual attention from their trainer, and all of How To Drive’s training vehicles are fitted with an extra steering wheel and controls so that trainers have complete and easy control of the car in an emergency.  The time period is almost the same but students get a lot of additional training for a variety of scenarios.   How has the pandemic affected teaching people to drive?  Registrations have been really slow sadly, although we have completed more than 800 registrations. With our ordinary licence programme, we took the classroom experience online apart from the mechanical topics. We were able to conduct online classes through our YouTube channel, and we have made these sessions available to the public too. These videos focus mainly on rules and regulations. When the lockdown ended, we conducted classes as we had before, on an individual basis, and made small changes to how we operated, making sure to disinfect cars and simulators frequently, keeping sanitisers and those things easily accessible, and following health guidelines. We were able to manage these changes with practise.   How do you see learning to drive and driving in general evolving in the future?  Personally, I feel fewer people will drive because of the stress and risk; especially now during the pandemic, people are refusing to go out and are working from home when possible. There is a transition happening. Within five years, the driving landscape is likely to change significantly. In the future, I feel there will be less ownership of private vehicles, driving will become more exclusive, and not everyone will try to obtain licences. Lots of professional services will come into the market like taxis and other methods of common transportation. There will be limited drivers behind the wheel and a lot more professional drivers. The future is also likely to include lots of AI (artificial intelligence) cars, self-driven cars, and so on, which is something else to look forward to.

Kapruka

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!


More News..