SDEC training helped 32,000 riders learn road safety

VIJAYAWADA: The Safety Driving Education Centre (SDEC) at Regional Transport Authority here has educated over 32,000 learner licence applicants in the past two years and helped spread awareness on two and four wheel driving.

The second anniversary of SDEC was held on Monday in which transport officials stressed the need for riders and drivers to follow road safety norms.

District transport commissioner Puremdra said AP transport department and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) jointly started the SDEC two years ago, offering a unique ‘Road Safety Training’ experience exclusively for two-wheel and four-whee learner licence applicants.

He said though the center was closed for a few months due to Covid19 curbs, the safety instructors have trained more than 32,000 learner licence applicants at SDEC while strictly adhering to the Covid19 safety guidelines. Ever since the start of the training, the percentage of students passing the test has increased.

Atsushi Ogata, president, MD and CEO of HMSI, said, “For more than 20 years, we are aggressively working in India towards our vision of ‘Safety for Everyone’ on roads.”

Prabhu Nagaraj, senior vice president, Brand & Communication, HMSI, said that in 2019, Andhra Pradesh reported nearly 22,000 road accidents, contributing almost 5 per cent share to total accidents in India. Regional transport officer Vijaya Saradhi was also present.