Majority of the youth fail a simple online driving test conducted by Autocar magazine
Mumbai : With Mumbai’s reputation of being a city most prone to road accidents, the ugly truth has recently been laid bare by an online survey conducted by popular car magazine Autocar on driving quality and knowledge among urban youth in India. The survey places the financial capital second among other metros in terms of percentage of youngsters passing the test. However, this comes as no consolation, as only a paltry 383 individuals actually passing the basic test compared to Delhi’s 668 and only ahead by a hair’s breadth of Bengaluru’s 308.
The online test aimed at scrutinising basic driving skills and awareness about road rules among India’s urban youth was taken by a total of 24,313 individuals out of whom only a meagre 11 percent actually passed the test.
Even as the performance across various metros and tier 1 and 2 cities in India paints a sad picture, Mumbai’s performance has been particularly disheartening considering Mumbai’s status as a city which adopted the car culture much earlier than it’s counterparts.
The survey included questions on attitude while driving, drinking and driving, vehicle controls and mechanisms, maintenance and fuel conservation, handling emergency situations, road signs and markings, accidents and first aid, safe driving practices, legal provisions and the Motor Vehicles Act. Nine questions were asked to each candidate based on the topics. Another disheartening statistic is that even among those who passed the test only 2 percent were female.
According to R S Kalsi, Executive Director at Maruti Suzuki which co conducted the survey, inspite of increasing number of drivers, the quality of driving and awareness has stagnated. “The numbers state that Tier I cities like Jalandhar, Coimbatore and Chandigarh, among others, had 1,660 candidates (58 percent) passing the test compared to metro cities (Mumbai, Delhi/NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad) with 1,204 candidates succeeding in the test (42 percent). Among the individuals who passed the test across India, only 54 candidates (2 percent) were recorded females” informed R S Kalsi.
The increasing careless attitude of drivers not only in Mumbai but all across the country has brought to notice the need for upping the ante on stringent licensing regulations and awareness measures.
