Chinese officials forced to take driving lessons after chauffer-driven cars taken off them

Many senior government officials in China have had to learn to drive after their chauffer-driven cars were taken off them as part of efforts to curb wasteful and extravagant spending, state media reported.

But some are so used to taking charge and having their own way that they make poor students, Xinhua reported.

Driving instructors in Changchun in northeastern Jilin province said the number of students at their schools had risen significantly this year and some were government officials getting behind the wheel for the first time, Xinhua reported.

Driving in schools in Fuzhou in eastern Fujian province also said last year that numbers had increased due to officials taking lessons after the government reforms were introduced, the People’s Daily reported.

One school said more than 10 officials from one authority had enrolled at the same time, according to the report.

Driving instructors in Jilin said the senior officials were often older and with strong opinions about how to do things, so teaching them was a “headache”.

“I have a 56-year-old student who is the director of his government department and he was forced to apply to learn to drive thanks to the public car reforms,” an anonymous coach was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

“Since he is the person in charge in his department and the one making final decisions, he continues this habit and drives exactly as he wants. Therefore, he’s failed his test several times.”

Another coach said it was painful to teach some officials.

“They pick up driving skills relatively slowly compared with younger students. What’s more, having been leaders for years or powerful and aggressive in their department, these officials are erratic in learning.”

The central government announced last year that it was curbing the use of publicly-funded cars by officials and it told local authorities to produce detailed plans about how they would do the same by the end of 2015.

All senior ranks below deputy ministers in the central government are not allowed to commute in officials cars and are given a subsidy to fund their transport instead.

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Training provided by them not only creates excellent drivers but drivers that are responsible and reliable. Nobody wants to spend months in learning how to drive. Hence, people look for instructors who offer driving lessons Oldham that teach them to drive with confidence in a few weeks. All our training programmers run for a period of few weeks. The courses consist of some hour inside car training and only few hours supervised theory training. Although this is the kind of curriculum followed by all the institutes but what make us different is our way of approach. There are many benefits for those who want to learn basic skills of driving if you take driving lessons Oldham. We appoint highly experienced and skilful trainers. They in association of the administered have constructed the entire course. The teaching method of our trainers is unique and interesting.

Driver's license exams must be upgraded

 I am writing with regard to the article "Why are there so many reckless drivers in Saudi Arabia?" (Mar. 27). With respect to the author, I do not think that the driving schools in the Kingdom can be blamed. The main problem is the method of obtaining a driver's license in Saudi Arabia, as this system does not depend upon independent and government appointed driving examiners. Obtaining a license does not require a driver to take a full one-hour exam with an examiner sitting next to him in a car. In such an exam, missing two or more important precautions or actions, driving too fast or to slow, would mean failing. We need to inject more value into driver's license exams in the Kingdom.

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There are a number of benefits that one can get by attending driving lesson Chelsea. One of them is that we handle a trainee in a professional way. When one is being trained by relative, their relationship will make it hard to since a relative will react in a way that might scare a learner.

If for instance one makes a mistake that a parent considers to be silly, he or she may yell at the child and as a result making them feel unease any moment they will be making mistakes. A driving lesson like this is started on a wrong foot, and that is not good. This is a case that can be avoided when someone takes professional lessons. Quality driving lessons Chelsea can also be helpful in getting the driving license without much problem. We offer the knowledge and expertise of being localized to that specific area. Our instructors supervise just like the nationals so you can expect a suitable degree of learning from us. You should combine personal recommendations with your own decision making skills to determine the best driving school for your needs. You can go on an extensive driving course that will be on long term basis. The instructor will also impart you education about the capabilities of your car and how it will behave in a particular circumstance. This knowledge will help you in becoming a skilled driver.

Distractions are a factor in 60 percent of teenage car crashes

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. Distractions, such as talking with passengers or using cell phones while behind the wheel, play a far greater role in crashes involving teenage drivers. New startling statistics released by AAA Colorado says distractions are a factor in nearly 60 percent of teen crashes.
AAA reports that interacting with passengers and using a cell phone while operating a vehicle are the number one distractions for teens. In 2013, crashes with driver's aged 16 -19 years old resulted in over 380 thousand injuries, and just under 3 thousand deaths. This is something law enforcement is trying to prevent.
"We want them to arrive alive, and the sad fact of all this is that every year we seem to lose a junior or a senior out of a high school class in the Valley. That's gut wrenching for us," said Dan Chermok with Colorado State Patrol.
Law enforcement isn’t the only ones noticing the dangers. With increased access to technology comes more distractions, and driving schools are doing what they can to teach young drivers as well.
"Just everything that is around them. Surroundings, traffic, we watch it all the time. It's extremely important. It's a life skill,” said Tom Trogdon with the Western Slope Driving Institute.
Western Slope Driving Institute says they take their young drivers through a 30 hour program with hands on driving scenarios, as well as teaching traffic laws.
"There are still those few that do have the fatality accidents and were trying to stop that. And believe it or not, right now, texting and driving is killing more people than drinking and driving," Trogdon said.
Colorado State Patrol says that for teens, operating a cell phone while driving is a one point ticket, but teens only have a total of 4 points on a license. AAA says that teenagers actually have the highest crash rate of any group in the United States.

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How are those young drivers being trained?

Q. Every so often, I see a car marked “student driver” on the streets of Anaheim. But for the number of kids that should be getting a driver’s license every year, it seems like I should see a lot more on the streets. When I was in high school, we took a driver’s education class. I don’t think they offer that any more, though right? So how do kids get certified to drive these days?
– Art Jenkins, Anaheim
A. Ah, yes, Art. Remember those days?
Not long ago, I was reminiscing with a colleague who’d attended Katella High School back in the 1980s how that driver’s training worked in the Anaheim Union High School District.
Back when I was a student at Anaheim High, that meant a sophomore year split between health class and driver’s education. I remember sitting through long discussions on topics such as using hand signals – left hand straight out to signal left, bent up at a 90-degree angle to signal a right turn and bent down at 90 degrees to signal a stop. (Not to mention how to resist using any fingers to signal anything to other drivers).
I also learned about what to do if your hood pops open and obstructs your view while traveling 55 mph on the freeway – the speed limit back then, by the way. And how to solve the problem of “vapor lock” if you’re traveling up in the mountains and suddenly your engine stalls.
I can remember sitting in class and thinking, “Wow, so much can go wrong. Maybe this driving thing isn’t for me.”
Never was that more true than having to watch “Red Asphalt,” a movie that’s been described as the “Scared Straight” of driving. Plenty of gruesome scenarios that stick with a driver.
Still, like so many others, as my 16th birthday drew near, nothing said freedom quite like the promise of being able to get behind the wheel of the Datsun B210 – which I inherited from my older brother, who got it from my dad, who got it from my uncle – and hit the open road. Or at least the road that took me the three miles to school each morning.
Back then, we also got our first practice behind the wheel at the Anaheim Union District offices, practicing on the orange, electric utility carts in the parking lot. Even topping out at about 15 mph, it was hard to resist the urge to race your buddies. I still remember the first time the instructor gave us the proverbial green flag, my friend Tony lead-footed the accelerator – only to discover he had the thing in reverse, and slammed into a chain-link fence.
These days, those carts are no longer an option.
The district cut driver’s education from its core curriculum years ago due to budget constraints.
Now students are on their own to take lessons privately or online courses to prepare them for their DMV test. To get a license, students are required to complete more than 24 hours of course work, have six hours of behind-the-wheel training and 50 hours of practice with an adult on the road before going to the DMV for the road test.
Information about legitimate driving schools can be obtained at the state’s motor vehicle department website dmv.ca.gov.
I definitely see student drivers on the road, too, Art. Some cars are marked a little more subtly than others.

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19-Year-Old Pleads Not Guilty in Vegas Neighbor Slaying Case

A 19-year-old Las Vegas man pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and other charges in the shooting death of a mother of four in a neighborhood gunbattle.

Erich Milton Nowsch Jr. stood in shackles — a slight 5-foot-3 and 120 pounds, flanked by his lawyers — and spoke only to enter his pleas and say he understood the charges that also include attempted murder and firing a weapon from a vehicle.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson, who was in the audience, has said a decision will be made soon about whether to seek the death penalty in the Feb. 12 shooting of 44-year-old Tammy Meyers. She died at a hospital on Valentine's Day.

Meyers' husband, Robert Meyers, and Nowsch's mother, Kathleen Nowsch, watched the brief arraignment but declined comment outside court.

Clark County District Court Judge Michael Villani set trial for May 26. But defense attorney Augustus Claus said after the hearing that a trial would likely be delayed if prosecutors seek capital punishment.

Other possible sentences could be 20 to 50 years in prison or life without parole if Nowsch is convicted.

"This case is requiring a lot more investigative work than usual," Claus said. "It's complicated."

The case initially was characterized as road rage but took dramatic turns following the revelation that Tammy Meyers knew Nowsch from encounters at a park, and that Meyers' adult son, Brandon Meyers, was with her and fired his registered 9 mm handgun three times during the shootout.

Police said Tammy Meyers was killed by one of as many as 22 shots fired from a .45-caliber handgun that Nowsch later showed to friends. Investigators said evidence also showed that Nowsch first fired shots at the Meyers' green Buick Park Avenue sedan several blocks from the Meyers home.

Nowsch told his friends he thought people in a green car with tinted windows driving slowly in a school parking lot near where he was walking alone late at night were after him, but he got them first, according to a police report.

Police are still seeking a getaway driver who drove a silver Audi that Nowsch said he summoned when he felt threatened.

Police haven't explained whether that car was the same silver sedan with an angry driver that Tammy Meyers and her daughter, Kristal, encountered earlier — during what was described as a late-night driving lesson in a school parking lot.

Claus and his brother and co-counsel, Conrad Claus, have said they believe they'll be able to show that Nowsch and Meyers knew each other better than police have described.

They're also checking records showing that Nowsch suffered a fractured skull as a 7-week-old infant at the hands of his father, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor child abuse charge, and that his father committed suicide when the boy was 15.

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Driving lessons Hammersmith are best for all. It is essential to know the main Driving session before Driving on the roads. There are certain policies described by the government of a particular situation. According the newest research, countless number of drivers are engaged in accidents on the streets of each year, with many of these critical or causing to serious accidents. So just avoid this condition only by learning best driving. Educational institutions of driving provide different driving offers to students. We provide Professional driving training that provides you the assurance to get behind the rim and take that first time drive of your live that you've so desired. An approved driving instructor will help you get prepared for the responsibility of becoming a car owner. Many people have been assisted by becoming a personal of the educational companies. Learners are qualified how to cope with several conditions for example ruling other vehicles and tracking the road guidelines. If you use an online look for Driving lesson Hammersmith studying you will be given hyperlinks to sites of companies who offer these services. A driving school that has been providing training for years will most likely take a position on a company ground. Among the significant cause of accidents mentioned by regulators are over speeding and overall absence of driving experience. Most of these, of course, could have been prevented if individuals took the first phase properly, getting appropriate driving session.

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Professional driving classes offer a structured approach to learning. When looking for the best driving school, look for the levels of experience that the different instructors have and the periods with which the different institutions have been offering training. So you've decided that you finally want driving lessons! With the current financial climate out there every penny has counted more than ever before. When you are learning under their guidance, you can rely on their instructions completely. Further, you can be free from any liability in case of any damage to the vehicle during the lessons.

Is this Britain's worst driver? Woman, 31, still hasn't passed her test after spending £5,000 on more than 250 lessons over 14 years Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2988753/Kent-woman-hasn-t-passed-test-250-lessons-14-years.html#ixzz3U3qkgHbD Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

A would-be motorist, who has spent more than £5,000 on 250 lessons over a 14-year period has been blacklisted from her local driving schools due to her failure to pass the test.

Janine Mars, 31, has had five different driving instructors only to fail her practical test four times.

Yet, despite the intensive instruction, Ms Mars is still unable to pull away from a junction without stalling her car.
Janine Mars, pictured, has spent more than £5,000 on driving lessons over the past 14 years without success
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Janine Mars, pictured, has spent more than £5,000 on driving lessons over the past 14 years without success
Ms Mars, pictured, said she lacks confidence when she gets behind the wheel of a car
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Ms Mars, pictured, said she lacks confidence when she gets behind the wheel of a car
Ms Mars, left, said her mother Radha, right, will give her money towards a car if she passes the driving test
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Ms Mars, left, said her mother Radha, right, will give her money towards a car if she passes the driving test

She said, now the situation is so bad, she cannot find an instructor near her home in Chatham, Kent, willing to take her because of her poor motoring skills.

It is estimated that during her driving lessons, Ms Mars has driven the equivalent of a road trip between London and Perth in Australia.

According to Ms Mars: 'After a few years I stopped counting how much I’d spent.

'It’s definitely more than £5,000 now, which is crazy. I could have bought a brand new car for that!

'I can’t give up now though, I’ve invested too much to stop.'

Mumbai: Fake papers cost 6 driving schools their licences

The Andheri RTO has suspended the licences of six driving schools, after a crackdown by the vigilance department showed they had allegedly submitted fake documents to get driving licences for their students.
The Andheri Regional Transport Office (RTO) is in-charge of areas from Bandra to Dahisar.
A senior official from the Motor Vehicle Department said the schools had submitted bogus medical certificates, fake address proofs, age proofs and  documents on educational qualification .
According to the official, these schools had even submitted the same documents for more than one applicant.
Prabhakar Bhalerao, Andheri’s regional transport officer said they have taken action against the six driving schools, but refused to disclose further details.
The schools were identified as Tejan motor driving school, New Tejani motor driving school, Rohit motor driving school, New Rohit motor driving school, Uma motor driving school and Andheriwala motor driving school.
Their licences were suspended on Monday, an RTO official said.
The official said all six schools were given show-cause notices to explain their side of the story, but as they failed to provide a justification, the RTO suspended their licences.

There are more than 400 motor driving schools in the city and most of them are registered with the Andheri RTO, which also receives the most applications for driving licences among all three RTOs in the city.

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Finding a reputable driving instructor or school locally is an easy thing to do and if you do end up learning with someone that you feel isn't right, you also have the power to change and go elsewhere. Theory classes, simulation training, on-road practice with dual control vehicle and objective instructions of your trainer ensure that you are fully confident of your driving skills before you take on the road. Only certified driving instructors possess the expertise, know how and hands-on experience to coach driving students. Professional driving lessons equips the driver with the necessary skills to safeguard his life and the lives of other road users effortlessly. It grants one the right attitude to handle different situations that arise on the road every other time that the driver gets behind the wheel. The goal of these courses is to reduce deaths and injuries caused by automobile accidents by teaching drivers how to prevent accidents before they happen. With the abundance of driving schools, you will have to focus on different qualities of the institution before deciding to enroll in it for your training.

Well reactions in unexpected conditions on road

Driving on the road is a big responsibility and therefore you should choose a driving school that offers best driving instructors as well as lessons. So the first thing to look for is the qualification and experience of the instructors that teach at a particular driving school. You can ask previous learners to give you an advice. We help you to know how to treat pedestrians with respect and care. This means no one will have the opportunity to question your ethics and qualifications as the driver. In Greenwich, you are going to find some pretty good driving school offering complete driving lessons. If you want to learning how to drive a car, but you do not have time during the day, then there are some very good driving schools that have evening lessons as well. College students wants to discover fundamental driving and traffic instructions and methods prior to beginning driving lessons. 

Gardai investigate dangerous driving incident near schools

A stolen car was reported driving on the wrong side of the road at speed in the vicinity of several schools in Ballymahon today.


The dangerous incident happened around 9am this morning after several reports of a silver BMW driving dangerously from the Longford road right into the centre of Ballymahon, going past several local schools in the process.


The vehicle, stolen earlier in Cavan, went through a pedestrian crossing at speed along its route prior before it crashed into another vehicle behind the Dean Egan Hall a short time later. The male driver then made a run for it on foot and gardai are currently searching for the perpretrator.


The crashed vehicle has since been recovered by investigating gardai. They are looking for anyone who saw the car driving erratically in the vicinity of the town this morning, or can assist the investigation in any way to call Ballymahon Garda Station 090 6432303 or Longford Garda Station on 043 33 50570.
- See more at: http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/news/roundup/articles/2015/03/02/4036075-gardai-investigate-dangerous-driving-incident-near-schools/#sthash.Q24FVqw2.dpuf

Get Adequate And Effective Driving Lessons

Many young adults, being low on their budget usually choose a driving school based on how much or how little the instructors charge for each driving lesson. Of course, this is not the way to go if you really want to achieve the most out of your driving lessons and if you want to become a responsible driver. Top ranking expert schools of motoring that deliver driving lessons generally benefit from custom-made cars. The vehicles could seem like a regular vehicle in regards to the outside, but possess some modified controls within. A few of these not only offer the right lessons but on the right rate as well. You would be lucky to find someone who is not willing to rush things up, regardless of your rate of learning as many people have just made a good business out of which and will probably not care if you learnt something out of the lessons or not. So beware! Driving lessons allow the learners to know the road rules and regulations as set by the constitution. Beginners are accompanied by expert drivers who make new learners practice the skill of driving.

What is an entry-level driver?

That might seem like a simple question. But given past Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed rules on training covered both post-CDL and pre-CDL “entry-level drivers,” the question saw no small amount of discussion at the initial meeting of the Entry Level Driver Training Advisory Committee.

The ELDTAC wrapped discussion on Friday, Feb. 27, clarifying the answer to the question. Over the next three months, the 26-member panel will negotiate the terms of a rulemaking relative to pre-CDL training standards for both interstate and intrastate drivers. Much of the discussion centered on how to appropriately exclude drivers from mandated training who have obtained a CDL in the past but who, for whatever reason, become disqualified or have to reapply.

“What is the permissible time that can elapse before the training is required again?” asked committee facilitator Richard Parker. “The states will be left with the discretion of when they can require a CDL [test for reinstatement] – does the training requirement just follow the CDL in lockstep?”

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Most ELDTAC members favored looking at pre-CDL training as a onetime certification, to be valid in perpetuity, rather than something that would be required with every change in the CDL status. All current CDL drivers would be grandfathered in and would not require any new training absent an added endorsement.

Following some discussion of potentially requiring re-training after a lapsed CDL, Kevin Lewis of the American Association of  Motor Vehicle Administrators argued against “going down that rabbit hole and making it harder and a lot more complex” than it needs to be. “This ELDT requirement — theoretically it is a one-time situation. The driver achieves the training to get their CDL – as long as they maintain their certificate and renew the CDL every four, five, six years, there’s nothing done with that training requirement again. And they may never be a driver of a CMV. They just maintain their CDL. They have no experience and have undergone the training – the certificate just follows them. Why would you ever make that driver go back and take the training again?”

Ultimately, the committee decided on language defining an entry-level driver as a “person who applies for a CDL for the first time,” with the caveat that specialized training would be required for those drivers testing for hazardous material, passenger and school bus endorsements. Those endorsements are mentioned in the MAP-21 legislation directing the agency to pursue a training rulemaking. Potential exceptions for ex-military drivers, maybe others, were discussed as well.

Peter Kurdock, director of regulatory affairs for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, perhaps signaling just how difficult reaching consensus on training will be for this committee as it continues its work, noted his organization “would be concerned about any exception unless it was very narrow.”

Such signals lend credence to some committee members’ worry that mandated pre-CDL training will effectively quash some traditional training approaches. “Are we saying that once this all comes out, you will have to pay and attend a formal school?” asked owner-operator Bryan Spoon, a committee member. “There will be no more learning it from family tradition? Or you’re taking the individual father/son operation out of the mix? Everything up here says there’s some kind of school or organization involved…. There are many people [for whom] this is their family business and they train generation to generation. Are we saying that the individual doing the training will have to take some kind of training course and get some kind of [certification] number?”

If so, Spoon went on, he worried the rule would only serve to reinforce the training businesses in place today and/or create new markets for schools — “you’re just turning this into even more of a business.”

In addition to the entry-level-driver definition, “we need to define what a school is,” suggested David Heller, safety and policy director for the Truckload Carriers Association. “We need to find a way to incorporate all of those [traditional informal training approaches]. The one-truck guy who buys another truck — these are the guys who want to train a driver. That’s where a lot of these major truckload carriers come from.”
Have you trained a driver before he/she received his/her CDL?
Yes, many drivers, as part of a formal school processYes, many drivers, outside of a formal school or programYes, but only 1-5 driversNo
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David Money, chairman of the Professional Truck Drivers Institute curricula-certification organization, suggested certification for those “home-schoolers” could be an option. “As long as the curriculum is utilized and if the program is followed, this [could remain] a possibility.”

FMCSA Associate Administrator Larry Minor envisioned a national registry of certified trainers similar to what’s now in place for medical examiners, not without its problems. One of those, following the registry’s somewhat recent establishment, has been the unwillingness of certain longtime if infrequent examiners to take the training themselves to become certified in the registry. Similar problems could well dog traditional training approaches with any ELDT rule.

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At once, Minor suggested that limiting the complexity and cost of the rule may well hinge on some allowance, some way to preserve, traditional training approaches. “We heard a very important issue about how small a training program could be,” he said. “If we set the program up so that some of these traditional approaches can continue, that will minimize significantly the cost of the program” and make the ultimate ELDT rulemaking that much more likely to get past the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for approval.”

June 15 is the committee’s deadline to finalize and submit a report to FMCSA outlining the terms of an ELDT Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Five meetings of the full committee are scheduled for the next few months: March 19-20, April 9-10 and 23-24, and May 14-15 and 28-29 — interested parties can track progress at the ELDTAC website.

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Between full-committee meetings, subcommittees charged with addressing data and policy needs in certain subject-matter areas will meet via teleconference. At the February 26-27 meeting, subcommittees related to curriculum content, training method and testing in core, hazmat, passenger and school-bus areas were established. Likewise, subcommittees were convened on training certification, implementation/enforcement and cost-benefit analysis and data needs.

DriveKool wants to bring about the same transformation as redBus in India

A few years ago Mahesh Gidwani, a Masters of Computer Applications graduate hailing from a remote village in Madhya Pradesh in central India, was looking for a good driving school for his wife after relocating to Bangalore. He found the process tedious as the system was highly unorganised. It was hard to find a school that had credibility and gave good value for money. To top it all, the difference in language — India is a diverse country with every state having an official language — created a huge barrier.

He wanted to find a solution to this problem. Enter DriveKool, a portal that helps locate a driving schools with the click of a button.

Finding a good driving school required a lot of efforts. Also, if you visited these places after work hours, there would be no one to give you appropriate information. I realised many others were facing similar problems, said Gidwani, Co-founder and CEO of driving schools booking platform DriveKool.

How it works?
After signing up, a user can choose the city, area and dates for taking driving classes from the drop-down menu on the site, and click the search button. The portal then lists the apt driving schools with availability, rates, duration of training and other details.

Users can then pick tentative slots with any driving school and book. After filling in personal details, the system sends e-mail and SMS confirmations to both parties.

Also Read: 5 Western startups expanding into India that you should know

One can book for two-wheeler and four-wheeler driving tests and licences via the platform.

The service also facilitates other transportation-related services such as registration renewal, owner’s address change, etc.

While the services are free to customers, DriveKool charges driving schools a listing fee.

“Currently, we are available only in Bangalore, where we have partnered with over 60 driving schools. Till date, we have served more than 700 customers. We plan to take the services pan India after reaching a certain milestone,” added Gidwani.

According to the CEO, online booking also helps customers skirt unscrupulous elements and agencies who cheat people by providing poor services or charging them exorbitant rates.

Bootstrapped till date, the startup is also looking for venture investment in the near future.

Also Read: Indian incubators and accelerators to keep an eye on

The startup was founded in March last year by the trio of Gidwani, Saumitra Kayal and Kumar Gaurav. Gidwani comes with over 15 years of experience with large corporates and startups from India and Silicon Valley, while Kayal is an expert in architecting enterprise solutions. Kumar worked as a business development professional before joining the firm as a Co-founder.

“Our aim is to transform the motor driving school industry the way redBus.in (a bus ticket booking site in India which was acquired by Naspers Group in 2012) revolutionised the bus industry in India,” he concluded.

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