Autoworld & AADA collaborate again to organize Defensive Driving Course

Autoworld & AADA collaborate again to organize Defensive Driving Course

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Autoworld and the Asia Advanced Driving Academy recently joined forces again to organize a day-long Defensive Driving Course at Shah Alam during the weekend. This is the third collaboration between the two parties having co-organized the first and second Autoworld Safety & Defensive Driving Course in 2009.

Unlike previous installments however, this edition was organized almost entirely by AADA, with Autoworld helping to promote the course and sourcing for participants. This edition of the course attracted the participation of 24 students, with 6 registered through Autoworld.

Like before, class started early in the morning at the Kelab Golf Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, where AADA chief instructor Kenvin Low gave participants a short introduction and course briefing while giving some pretty graphic illustrations on the need to practice safe driving habits.

Following the theory session, class was then adjourned to the Stadium Shah Alam car park where participants were tasked to tackle a slalom course. Although the course itself was simple enough, the participants’ unfamiliarity with using the required pull-push steering technique meant it was quite a struggle for some, especially those piloting bigger vehicles.

After lunch came the emergency braking course, where participants were taught on the proper techniques to brake, swerve and avoid suddenly appearing obstacles. For vehicles without ABS, drivers need to apply cadence braking – pumping the brake pedal to ensure that the wheels do not lock.

Finally, came the skid test, where instructors will deliberately induce oversteer in the vehicle, requiring the participants to apply correcting countersteer to rectify the situation. Participants were also told not to depress the brake or clutch pedals, as it would only worsen the situation. They were required to use throttle modulation to power the car through a designated gate.

The long and tiring day came to a conclusion back at the golf club as instructors debriefed the students and presented them with participation certs. When asked, most participants responded that they were generally happy with the course, and found that they have indeed received the full value of the RM400 course fee paid.

In addition to the undoubted value of safety education, the defensive driving course is also an avenue where drivers can safely explore the limits of themselves and their vehicles. Held in a controlled environment, drivers can safely experience what it is like to lose control of a vehicle and learn the best ways to recover from hairy situations.

Autoworld and AADA are looking forward to further collaborations in the future to organize more of such courses to educate the public on the importance of defensive driving and also to arm drivers with the correct driving techniques.

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