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Traffic Department director Brigadier Mohamed Saad al-Kharji and world champion rally driver Nasser al-Attiyah have praised the Students for Road Safety initiative during a tour of the programme’s state-of-the-art driving simulator at Darb Al Saai, as part of Qatar’s National Day celebrations. |
Students for Road Safety falls under the national One Second road safety brand and seeks to transform 12-18-year-old students into road safety ambassadors through interactive presentations and driving simulator training.
In 2014, 2,200 trainees - including 1,500 students - have benefited from the programme through school visits and community events arranged by the Traffic Department at the
Ministry of Interior.
Students for Road Safety was launched a year ago by programme owners Maersk Oil Qatar and the Traffic Department as part of the national One
Second road safety brand.
The driving simulator used in the Students for Road Safety programme is the only one of its kind in the Gulf region and includes a full real car cockpit, an advanced display system with a wraparound screen and an artificial intelligence engine that reflects common behaviours on Qatar’s roads like tailgating, failure to indicate, flashing lights and cutting across cars at roundabouts.
The Students for Road Safety simulator utilises technologies from the aviation and Formula 1 industries.
As part of his tour of the Students for Road Safety driving simulator at Darb Al Saai, al-Attiyah - also an Olympic bronze medallist - got behind the wheel and commented on how realistic the controls were and the life-like nature of the simulator’s screen.
Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad al-Thani, deputy managing director of Maersk Oil Qatar, said: “National Day celebrations are a time for us all to celebrate the achievement of Qatar and the fantastic work that bodies like the Traffic Department and Students for Road Safety are doing to overcome challenges. At Maersk Oil Qatar, we are proud to make a meaningful difference to our country through programmes like Students for Road Safety.”
The participation of Students for Road Safety in the National Day celebrations comes after the world governing body for motor racing - Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile – threw its support behind it by positioning the driving simulator next to the Prize Giving Challenge track at its Annual General Assembly in Doha recently.
