SCMS Institute for Road Safety and Training (SiRST), which imparted road safety training to 7,000 people from across Kerala during the past six months, has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Edappal-based Institute of Driver Training and Research (IDTR), aimed especially at focusing on road safety research.
Sources in the Transport department said that efforts were under way to rope in SiRST as a member of district-level road safety committees (RSCs), considering its expertise in road safety engineering and training. This is because there is no other educational institution in Kerala that imparted comprehensive training in road safety, despite over 4,000 people dying in road accidents each year in the State and over 40,000 suffering permanent disability, they added.
Those who underwent training here since February included around 700 drivers who were sent here by the Motor Vehicles department (MVD), after being found at fault for causing accidents or were pulled up for grave traffic rule violations. Students were among those who attended road safety classes, while 352 women attended ‘Know Your Vehicle’ campaigns that the institute organised to impart hands-on training in maintaining vehicles in case of emergency.
