OREANDA-NEWS. Ford Sollers has been honored with a prestigious ‘Best Social Projects’ award in recognition of implementing Driving Skills for Life training in Russia.

Ford Sollers received an award in the “Corporate projects” category. Judges praised the contribution the company has made promoting a safe driving culture among newly licensed drivers in Russia.

The ‘Best Social Projects in Russia’ annual programme was established to support social policy based on partnerships between the state, society and private business. This year more than 70 projects were included in the programme.

Ford Sollers implements the project in partnership with Road Safety Russia, a non-profit making organization, within the global Ford Driving Skills for Life programme which was launched in the U.S. in 2003 and has now been successfully rolled out across 20 countries globally.

Since the programme was successfully launched in Russia in 2014, Ford Sollers has already trained 2,400 novice drivers in 9 Russian regions, providing free, hands-on classes covering hazard recognition, vehicle handling, and speed and space management. The programme also highlights the risks posed by social media distractions such as texting and taking selfies at the wheel, as well as the dangers of drinking and driving. In 2014-2015, the training sessions were held in Moscow, St.Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Ufa, Samara and Rostov-on-Don.

The programme has been specially adapted for Russia and aims at improving driving skills of newly licensed drivers and increasing the safety level on Russian roads and in difficult weather conditions. Training is designed to address some of the leading factors in young driver accidents in Russia. This includes showing students how they might recover from a slide, emergency braking techniques, and how to scan the road ahead for trouble. Attempting slow speed manoeuvres in a closed environment while using a mobile phone shows how distraction affects driving performance.

This year, Ford Sollers will offer free training to the newly licensed drivers of four Russian cities – Voronezh, Krasnodar, Volgograd and Astrakhan. Hands-on driver training will be held in April-May. 2016.  Young drivers in Russia can apply for places at the official site of the Russian Ford Driving Skills for Life project