Mercedes-Benz Canada will launch a national driver education program to prepare teens for obtaining their licences and becoming safer drivers.
The program is the first of its kind offered in Canada, and it will incorporate proprietary best practices from other Mercedes-Benz training academies around the world with a curriculum sanctioned by provincial governing bodies and tailored to the Canadian market.
The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy for Teens will offer training that delves well-beyond basic car control, along with fundamental driving rules and traffic regulations, says the company. Through classroom, in-car, and online education and training, novice drivers will learn skills, core competencies and defensive driving techniques crucial for safe and enjoyable motoring. The e-learning and personal risk assessment modules aim to give program participants a thorough understanding of risk awareness in order to safely navigate today’s congested roads and effectively respond to the challenging situations that they will encounter.
The program has already proved successful in other markets around the world. In the UK, students who attended the program had a first-time driver’s license exam pass rate of 79 per cent, which is nearly double the national average of 43 per cent.
Tim Reuss, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Canada, added that while “Mercedes-Benz vehicles offer some of the most sophisticated advanced safety systems in the industry, these can never replace proper training for new drivers. With numerous studies proving that teen drivers are most at risk of a collision, the overall goal of this program is to ensure that novice drivers are well-equipped with the practical skills and confidence necessary to negotiate the many demanding situations they will undoubtedly face.”
