Volkswagen Launches Night Driving Curriculum to Boost Road Safety
Prashirwin Naidu
In partnership with the Advanced Driving Academy, Volkswagen has introduced 'Night School,' an innovative open-source night driving safety course.
This course launched on October 19th, 2023, in Pretoria, where the media were in attendance. It will be accessible to the public starting from November 1st, 2023.
An alarming statistic shows that over 55% of these tragic incidents occur during nighttime.
This course aims to educate drivers about the challenges and risks of driving after dark.
Volkswagen's road safety initiative comprises three key elements: continuous innovation in vehicle safety technologies, driver education and skills enhancement, and widespread public awareness.
While Volkswagen vehicles already boast advanced safety features, they believe road safety goes beyond what's under the hood.
Night School represents a significant step forward, offering a comprehensive open-source online curriculum dedicated to nighttime driving education, complete with learner tests after each chapter.
This curriculum is freely accessible to all road users, making South African roads safer. In addition to the online offering, Volkswagen's Advanced Driving Academy will provide a real-world theoretical and practical course led by experienced defensive driving instructors at Zwartkops Raceway.
In my driving course experience, I walked away feeling more equipped than ever. It allowed me to handle tricky situations; the instructors were knowledgeable and guided us in the right direction. We used Golf 8 GTIs through a few obstacles, some including emergency braking, emergency lane switching and utilising ESC. It gave me knowledge and some skills coupled with practical experience.
The topics explored were understanding your vehicle, visibility and poor vision, driver fatigue, recklessness, personal safety, weather conditions, and factors that affect a driver's ability after dark.
Volkswagen has also partnered with corporations like Spec-Savers and Vida e Caffe, who will offer additional rewards to curriculum graduates as a token of appreciation for completing the course.
Volkswagen's Night School aims to complement existing initiatives led by government agencies and the private sector to save lives.
Interested individuals can enrol in Volkswagen's Night School Curriculum by visiting nightschool.vw.co.za.
