In Pic: Mr. Akito Tachibana, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor along with Dr. M. Rajaram, IAS [Retd], Hon’ Member - Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission in the simulator
Promotes Drive Right, Drive Safe culture on roads
Chennai, May 25th, 2015: Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced the launch of its first “Toyota Driving School” in the state of Tamil Nadu at Chennai in pursuance of its safety mission of ‘Safest Car with Safest Driver’. Managed by one of Toyota’s leading dealership, Lanson Toyota, this is the company’s fourth Driving School in India.
Present at the occasion were Dr. M. Rajaram, IAS [Retd], Hon’ Member - Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, Mr. Lankalingam, Dealer Principal, Lanson Toyota, Mr. Akito Tachibana, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Mr. T. S. Jaishankar, Deputy Managing Director Mr. T. Amakasu, Senior Vice President.
Launched in line with the company’s vision of "Safest car with safest driver”, ‘Toyota Driving School’, one of its kind in the country, will ensure extreme importance on making every student a responsible and safe driver. The curriculum will be a comprehensive driver training program that will boast of high quality and practical and futuristic training models like the driver simulator mechanism which is expected to deliver the “Etios Experience”. To make this experience as realistic as possible, Toyota has incorporated features like IP, steering, and seats of an actual Etios car.
The Curriculum will comprehensively cover the following topics:
1. Traffic management, rules and discipline.
2. Safe and right driving concepts
3. Manners and responsibilities of a driver
4. Simulation of driving on real vehicle before getting onto road
5. All aspects of practical driving on road
6. Driving on various road and climate conditions
7. Know your car – Basic maintenance and repairs
8. Emergency handling
9. Systematic evaluation and feedback
Speaking at the occasion Mr. Akito Tachibana, Managing Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd. said “We are extremely delighted to announce the launch of our first driving school in state of Tamil Nadu at Chennai, India’s ‘Fourth Most Largest City’, at Lanson Toyota. The tag of one of the largest cities also brings with it the issues of growing population and rising density of vehicles, making road safety a challenge. The launch of Toyota Driving School is a big opportunity for us to come closer to you with a solution for road safety. It is not “just another driving school” for getting a driving license but it’s much more of a place that follows a comprehensive approach ensuring that every single student becomes a responsible driver on raod and a safety ambassador.
We at Toyota are committed to ensuring safer driving experience in India. We believe everyone deserves to be safe and this is what drives us to make great cars which stand for safety and quality.”
The simulator, a key part of the teaching program, is expected to provide hands on experience. Learners can practice all car controls like steering, accelerator, brake and gear shift before they take the actual vehicle on the road. The simulators can also create various road and weather conditions like fog, dim light, uphill and downhill terrain. While there will be a standard learning package for beginners, ‘Toyota Driving School’ will also offer the flexibility of additional learning modules so that learners can design a curriculum of their choice. (Talk of advance program)
Besides, the simulator also has several credits, it is the first car simulator in India with Full High Definition Computer graphics in an immersive Curved Projection environment, and it is the first simulator in India with real complete car cabin along with actual car gear. In addition, it also offers extensive local language support for effective training and extensive sessions for both Novice and advance drivers.
Commenting on Lanson Toyota’s role in managing the Driving School Mr. Lankalingam, Dealer Principal, Lanson Toyota, Chennai said “It gives us immense pleasure to be associated with Toyota for such a significant initiative in making the roads of our city safer. There is certainly a rise in the number of people driving on roads due to carelessness of drivers and pedestrians alike. However, with Toyota’s world-class know-how, professional trainers and a comprehensive curriculum, we are confident that we will be able to inculcate a safer and cautious driving behavior amongst the people in our city.”
On this occasion we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the RTO, transport commissioner and Chennai Traffic police for their kind support on this initiative” he further added
With the launch of Toyota Driving School across India, the company aims to bring down the rising number of road accidents caused majorly due to human error. The training module will integrate technical expertise along with enhancing behavioral skills to create awareness about safety nationwide.
As a safety crusader, Toyota Kirloskar Motor has been engaged in Road Safety initiative since 2005 through various pan India campaigns. The company has engaged with over 6 lakh students across India through its “Toyota Safety Education Programme” which aims at spreading road safety awareness amongst children of 10 - 14 years. To ensure safest drivers on Indian roads, TKM had conducted Driver Training Programs in the Bangalore International Airport as part of the road safety awareness month in January 2016 with over 1500 drivers participating in the campaign. 306 drivers were diagnosed with vision problems during the health checkup and provided free spectacles by TKM. Additionally, the “Driver Training Program” and “Health Check-up Camp” was also successfully completed at Delhi International Airport, New Delhi. Through this initiative Toyota aims at creating a strong road safety sense amongst the drivers, and encourage them to adopt safer driving practices.
Toyota is also the first manufacturer to have standardized front dual SRS airbags across all models attributing safety as a crucial factor in all their endeavors. Testament to its position as one of the segment leaders in terms of passenger safety, the Etios was presented with the coveted 4 Stars in Global NCAP Crash Test adult occupant safety for the year 2016. With the launch of ‘Toyota Driving School’, Toyota intends to further reiterate these values and inculcate traffic discipline and road safety among citizens. Toyota has developed computer-based virtual human models, known as THUMS, to analyze and simulate situations that are closer to the actual accident. THUMS is a millennial crash test dummy. Designed as an experimental virtual model of the human body, THUMS with organs, bone, ligaments, tendons, and muscle. It is computer animated with 80,000 cyber parts, including a heart - to pinpoint precisely which parts of the body are affected, and how, by various high-impact accidents.
