SAFEX 2006, the World Driving Training Conference, which will be held in Dubai from March 10-12 at the Dubai Police Officer's Club, will witness participation from some of the world’s eminent experts on driving and driver training. SAFEX 2006, jointly organized by the International Association for Driver Education (IVV) and the Belhasa Driving Center (BDC), will cover various aspects of driving and road safety such as alcohol and drug abuse; importance of driver education; pedestrian training and standards for driver training. The conference will also look to raise the profile of eco and green driver techniques to encourage energy conservation.
The impressive speaker lineup at SAFEX 2006 will comprise Jose Capel Ferrer, Director General of Transport, United Nations; Dr. Jeffrey Runge, CEO of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S.A; Jack Kantelberg, Managing Director, Best Alert College, Netherlands; Rene la Cour Sell, CEO, Danish Road Safety Council, Denmark; in addition to Graham R J Fryer, IVV President and Saif Ahmed Belhasa, Chairman and Managing Director, BDC, among others.
Commenting on the conference, Saif Ahmed Belhasa, Chairman and Managing Director, BDC said, “Road safety and accident prevention have become matters of grave concern around the world, especially in the UAE, where there has been an alarming increase in road accidents in the recent years. It is equally disturbing to note that most of these accidents were caused as a result of negligence on the part of drivers. Educating drivers and focusing on the most effective training methods forms the essence of SAFEX 2006, and the participation of experts from around the world will certainly contribute to the overwhelming success of the conference.”
SAFEX 2006 will highlight the importance of common standards in training and testing to ensure that necessary precautions are taken to prevent road accidents resulting from driving error. The conference is organized every two years and aims to bolster driver-training practices by inviting a panel of experts to discuss teaching initiatives and global best practices, with the aim of reducing accident related death and injury worldwide.
Graham R J Fryer, President, IVV said, “The IVV has been focused on standardizing road safety regulations and testing procedures, with an underlying emphasis on effective driver training. The presence of several knowledgeable and highly regarded participants at SAFEX 2006 will make the conference an ideal platform to devise and discuss innovative solutions to reduce road accidents around the world.”
The IVV, founded in 1957, remains the sole worldwide organization representing the interests of driving school proprietors and related associations. The IVV has implemented a number of new educational methods and curricula in numerous countries, supplemented by conferences held every two years that bring to light key issues in increasing driving safety. BDC is partnering with the IVV to promote a better standard of training and driving across the UAE, and is working towards raising awareness of the risks of aggressive driving.
“SAFEX 2006 will provide numerous insights into various aspects of road safety and driver training, which will help the Belhasa Driving Center in its efforts to provide the highest levels of training. We have been constantly upgrading our facilities and instruction techniques at the center, so as to achieve our foremost objective of forming good drivers and reducing road accidents,” added Ahmed Belhasa.
Some of the main topics that will be discussed during SAFEX 2006 include ‘Post Test Training for Young Drivers’, ‘UK Drink Drive Rehabilitation Programme’, ‘The Drowsy Driver Section’, ‘Risk Reading- How new drivers can read the road’, ‘Teaching methods and didactics for driving instructors in accordance with the GDE Matrix’ and ‘Improving instruction through interactive slides and short videos. The expected outcome of the conference is to analyze and evaluate various practices in road safety and driver training and adopt them in the Middle East region.
SAFEX 2006 will see participation by traffic concerned organizations such as Traffic Injury Research Foundation, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, UNECE Transport Division, Global Road Safety Partnership, Transport Canada, Transport Research Laboratory, DG Energy and Transport, Government of India, Danish Road Safety Council, and several others.
About Belhasa Driving Center (BDC):
Belhasa Driving Center established on October 13, 2001, is the new name for Dubai Modern Driving Institute, which was set up more than a quarter century ago. The driving center, which is a member of the Saif Belhasa Group has witnessed exponential growth in the last few years and today boasts of an impressive fleet of over 1,000 training cars, 50 heavy duty trucks, 50 buses, 30 motorcycles, 25 light and heavy forklifts, backed by professional and well-trained team of instructors. Today BDC has set new standards in providing training courses for light motor vehicle, motorcycle, heavy vehicles, forklift safety operating, defensive driving and desert driving. In addition, BDC offers specialized courses like Incident Avoidance, Progressive Driver Development, DIAmond Advanced Motorists course, Chauffer course, UAE familiarisation course, Anti car hi-jacking, Surveillance security and pursuit driving courses. BDC has branches in Jumeirah, Al Wasl Club, Jebel Ali, Port Rashid and Century Mall, all of which have extensive shuttle transportation services to ferry students from their homes or offices.
