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Institute of Driving Training and Research (IDTR), this state-of the-art driving training facility formed under the aegis of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, India. It is an institute that provides dynamic training to educate drivers about right ways of driving. The institute works sincerely towards fulfilling its initiative of increasing “Road Safety" while driving as well as reducing the number of accidents happening due to untrained drivers.
Contents
Origin
In the midst 1990’s the number of accidents in India were on a rise and the driving discipline and training was very weak. There was an indomitable need to develop a training facility to control the situation. IDTR was developed with the objective to go on and set a benchmark in professional driver education and lay down the ground rules for safe driving. Driving training facilities and curriculum were designed to impart training for driving a gamut of vehicles ranging from cars, trucks, buses, taxis to three-wheelers.
The first Institute of Driving Training and Research was built at Loni, Delhi. It was a joint venture between the Department of Transport, Government of Delhi and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Delhi based architecture firm, Creators Architects, experts in space design for automobile firms, was engaged to design the institute with world class infrastructure facilities and scientifically engineered tracks for practical training. The institute was inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Delhi, Smt. Sheila Dixit.
Later on the IDTR network was expanded by building IDTR’s in New Delhi (Sarai Kale Khan), two in Haryana (Rohtak and Bahadurgarh), one in Gujarat (Vadodara), one in Uttarakhand (Dehradun), one in Maharashtra (Pune) and a few others.
Training Curriculum at IDTRs
By and large, the training curriculum at IDTRs is bifurcated between theory and imbibing practical skills. Hence in a long-term training, theoretically one learns how the vehicle starts, the mechanism behind its movement, traffic rules and their relevance, and issues related to driving for instance – road rage, speeding, drunken driving and its fallouts. The instructor-led discussions are a repository of information on engaging learners on the why’s, how’s and ways to prevent such incidents besides drawing solutions from participants. In addition, visuals contribute to a better understanding of a real-world situation, far better than the conventional and dated methods of driving training practised in local driver schools. Advanced driving simulators are installed that replicate Indian driving conditions.
Training & Testing Tracks
The test roads are designed keeping in mind all the skills needed for efficient driving. The four-lane road, six-lane road, parking yard, junctions, crossings, three-point turn and five-point turn roads reproduce real road conditions. In addition, rough path road, Y-shaped road, hair-pin bend, blind corner and hill driving simulation are designed to offer customised condition for trainees to improve their driving skill in a challenging terrain.