[Aditya]

Maruti Suzuki Driving School (MSDS) has announced that it has trained more than 1.5 million (15 lakh) applicants in safe driving.

MSDS was created with the intention of making Indian roads safer and claims to have introduced global standards for driving training. The MSDS chain has more than 492 facilities in 238 cities across India with around 1,400 certified and qualified trainers. It has driving simulators and practical and theoretical courses. The focus of this network is to inculcate safe and responsible road behaviour in each applicant and impart safe driving skills with knowledge about the vehicle, basic maintenance and emergency handling techniques.



MSDS has a hybrid curriculum which includes on-road driving situations and classroom training. Training sessions are used to educate trainees on road behaviour, defensive driving, Good Samaritan Law and traffic rules and regulations. The courses offered by MSDS are specifically personalised in-line with the requirement of every applicant.



In 2020, MSDS introduced new courses customized for applicants who need more on-road practice. Apart from running various programs for novice and young learners, MSDS collaborates with various corporates, fleet owners and jointly conducts programs to suit their varied needs. The applicants are also given value added services such as license assistance and assistance on their own cars.



A mobile application and website curated for MSDS has been launched as well. MSDS aims to host new digital content on the application as well as the website for customers to take theory lessons at their homes.

MSDS works with RTOs, traffic police, various NGOs and self-help groups to sensitize people and reduce road hazards.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[shancz]

Thanks for sharing, kudos.

A driving school like this, mandated by the government is what we need as the first step towards making our roads safer.
Respecting the logistics and numerous other challenges that will come up in a nationwide implementation and mandate but there's no getting away from the fact that this is a need.
Hopefully in the next 10 years

[Vizay]

I have seen those simulators in Maruti driving schools. Surely a good step before stepping on to road in a dual control learning vehicle and finally on your own. Not sure if other private learning schools have such setup. Wonder why not put it inside a old shell to make it even more realistic for learners.
Will be interesting to see how they evolve the whole process of learning and licensing with automatics and EVs picking momentum.

[rajesh1868]

My experience with them had been extremely positive.

I had been to a reputed driving school in Kochi back in 2000 to learn driving. Things went fine, I got my license and my friend took me to a vacant road and gave me his Swift to try my skills. Very soon I figured out that I just could not drive properly. This was mainly due to the fact that when i learned, the instructors were controlling a set of pedals and also had a hand on the steering.

Around 2006-07, I enrolled in a driving school again because I was planning to buy a car. This time I went with MDS in Indiranagar, Bangalore. I came out a much better one and more confident.

There used to be about an hour of theory classes were they used to teach about safe driving practices, how to conduct ourselves during an emergency, scenarios like aquaplaning etc.
After this there was the practical where its just you and the instructor in the car (as against a loaded back seat where each one takes turns ) and where in you are given the chance to learn and drive properly.

Almost towards the end of my class there was also a session on how to change tires where first he demonstrated how it is done and I was asked to do the same.

Hope they still have good standards.

[ramnaresh_2000]

This Maruti Driving School reminds me of the reason why Microsoft included Solitaire game in their operating system

Microsoft intended Solitaire "to soothe people intimidated by the operating system,"

Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Solitaire

There were very few car buyers initially, so Maruti came up with driving school plan to increase their sales by increasing people who can drive, but it turned out to be successful itself. Many people these days I know of have learned from Maruti Driving School and ended up purchasing non-Maruti vehicle.

[gusfring]

Wouldn't rate my experience with them as exemplary, but I think I couldn't have done better when choosing a driving school. Don't know how it is in other places, but driving schools near me are quite... pathetic, and don't give you the liberty to actually drive the car.

The simulator is a unique thing, and the theory classes are quite good too. Other driving schools don't have this much theory from what I know.

Many people these days I know of have learned from Maruti Driving School and ended up purchasing non-Maruti vehicle.

Yes!!! That's us too but the stepping stone to the car change was a M800 that I drove very extensively. Easily one of the best vehicles to learn with.

[TheHelix0202]

Was thinking of mentioning this sometime; this is a ready-made opportunity to do so.

For Bangaloreans who're thinking of joining the Indiranagar branch, be warned. Sub-par (and rude trainers), average-maintained cars and lackadaisical customer service seem to be the hallmark for the Indiranagar branch of MDS. If you're an absolute noob- err...novice, be prepared to pick up at least 3 assorted sets of bad driving habits. I'm relieved that I got my license without losing any more of my sanity and health than I already sacrificed when I joined there.

[ajmat]

My daughter went to Garuda - Lalbagh Road.

• They let her play on the simulator unsupervised.
• Driving tuition was "meh"
• The Learners Licence, saw her on the console. She filled in 18/20 questions, tutor told her, to let him fill it up. Guess which two questions were wrong.
• The test was more of sitting on a pavement for 1 hour until the inspector watched her drive 300 yards and back as per "arrangement"

She passed but was still not confident to drive. We engaged a private person attached to a Maruti Driving School near Cantonment station to take her driving for a couple of hours daily for 10 days.

That did the trick.

[aargee]

Maruti Driving School deserves as very special place in India for sure. We've had experiences with 3 driving schools totally & Maruti was one of them. There was no way both other 2 driving schools came closer to Maruti for...

• Very professional approach & behavior
• Simulator is already covered by many, so let me exclude
• They go beyond the road, cover some basics of cars which no driving schools cover these days
• One class dedicated for road signs & safe driving practice
• No cramming the car

[Gansan]

A bit OT.

I have observed the MTC (Metropolitan Transport Corporation) in Chennai offering LMV driving classes in recent times. I have seen the learner vehicles on the road many times. They have a dedicated training school for heavy vehicle driving which was earlier training their own trainee drivers only. Nowadays they are offering the training to any heavy license aspirant, and the LMV course seems to be a more recent spin off. Has anyone tried their course?

[mvadg]

The instructor in the vehicle has parallel controls, and unfortunately some of the instructors tend to intervene more than necessary. This leads to the student having a faulty feel about how the vehicle actually behaves. The end result of such bad instruction, especially for novice drivers, is bad driving technique that has to be unlearnt before relearning can begin.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by Aditya

MSDS was created with the intention of making Indian roads saferand claims to have introduced global standards for driving training.

Anyone sense the irony(in bold) from Maruti?

I hope Maruti delivers at least in the driver training programs as it is the most important aspect of overall road safety.

[thiagar]

I started my car driving lessons fairly late (when I was in my late 20s). I had enrolled in the Maruti Driving School. One is taken through a series of theoretical sessions followed by simulators before getting into the practical mode. I felt very comfortable and confident handling my new car as soon as I completed the course and secured my license.

Their theory covers varied topics right from pre checks, safety, car care, respect to fellow road users, certain nuances including driving in a highway, hill etc.

The theory was a combination of interesting presentations, video(s) and expert talks.

Must partiall credit MDS for the love and respect that I developed towards my car.

[GRAND23]

Oh! Good news for Maruti. These numbers may be big but the quality of training is very bad.
I got trained in Maruti driving school sometime in 2011 or 2012. I must say that the quality of training is very low. They have few theoretical class and simulators for beginners but that's too uninspiring in my opinion. The staff is not so involving and never tried to help me if I fail. Well, their practical is more worse. The trainer operates his part of clutch more than what I should do. This never gave me feeling of "I am driving the car". Actually in one of their driving test, I failed. Reason is simple, they never gave me control.
I can recall one incident. One day just before we were supposed to for RTO office for actual DL test, a "do and not-to-do" class was provided by supervisor. He guided us about what things we need to do in front of RTO officer and what we should avoid such as receiving calls during driving and so on. After quick session, I decided to follow supervisor's bike as I didn't the RTO office location. Just when we were about to reach the location, I see supervisor receiving call while riding his bike. To my surprise, he actually met with accident right in front of me. Later, I took him to nearest hospital, got treated and reminded his words which he gave us during class "Do not receive calls while driving".

[rkw]

Maruti has certainly made the learning process structured & standard. Other driving schools just used to hand out a pamphlet with basic information about road signs. I am indicating the times 20 years ago when there was still no written test for license. Learning was directly on the car half an hour daily for 20 days. First day was about basics & then driving with the instructor for next 19 days. I was lucky to get a good instructor which ensured learning properly & getting the fundamentals right. It will be naive to expect that you come out perfect from the driving school. Driving is an art you master with practice & over time.
By the way, I happened to notice Toyota driving school somewhere.