'Motor training schools cannot be set up without proper infrastructure'

Kolkata: The state Transport department will not allow setting up of motor training schools without proper infrastructure.

Suvendu Adhikari, state Transport minister said on Monday that no driving school without proper infrastructure will be allowed. "The driving schools must have proper infrastructure and we are not going to allow those who will fail to meet out parameter," he said.

The Transport department will set up guidelines and the motor training schools have to follow them strictly.

Senior state government officials felt that for successful launching of the Safe Drive Save Life Programme, the quality of driving needs to be improved. As the state government does not have any training school, it has to depend on the private schools. Barring some, most of the private motor training schools do not have proper infrastructure.

There are simulators in some motor training schools, where the trainees are given lessons and then they are asked to handle cars on the road. The simulators help them to develop the reflex and control over the steering wheels. Hence, when they actually drive a car, they do not face any problem. The trainees are given classes on the mechanism of the vehicle and the road signage. The classes are held for three weeks and this include driving the vehicle on the road.

In most of the private driving schools, there are no theoretical classes and the students are not taught about the signage.

A senior state government official said most of the trainees do not develop proper driving sense and once they get licence, they drive any sort of vehicle. The official said out of 10 cars that face accidents in Kolkata, six are driven by owner drivers.

"It is unfortunate that most of the owner drivers cannot change the wheels and many of them cannot even open the bonnet," the official said.

The guideline will include training on proper driving techniques along with knowledge of the mechanical side and the signage.