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- Driving at night in South Africa presents many unique challenges.
- The Volkswagen Driving Academy has launched SA's first night-time driving course.
- Volkswagen's Night School initiative includes an online course free to all South Africans.
Volkswagen, in partnership with their Advanced Driving academy, has developed and launched Night School, South Africa’s first night driving course in a two-part format.
South Africa has one of the highest road accident fatality rates globally, with more than 55% of these fatal accidents occurring at night. Volkswagen's Night School aims to educate drivers on the challenges and risks of night-time driving.
With this curriculum, Volkswagen aims to provide a tangible and practical solution that they hope will assist in reducing the country's night-time road accident statistics.
Volkswagen's holistic road safety initiative encompasses three main aspects: the ongoing innovation of its vehicle safety technologies, driver education and upskilling and fostering large-scale public awareness.
Learning to drive safely at night
Volkswagen's Driver Academy will now offer a night driving course that encompasses real-world theoretical and practical modules hosted by their experienced defensive driving instructors in the controlled environment of Zwartkops Raceway.
The course has been developed with learnings from their very successful driver safety course and adapted for the specifics of driving at night.
This specialised approach aims to empower attendees with the skills, knowledge and practical experience needed to navigate the challenges and dangers of driving at night while ensuring improved driver confidence and personal safety awareness, vital for staying safe on South African roads.
The course curriculum covers topics such as understanding your vehicle, visibility and poor vision, driver fatigue, recklessness, personal safety, weather conditions and other factors that make driving at night that much more dangerous than daytime driving.
Practical elements allow drivers to practise avoiding road hazards, such as cattle, pedestrians and cyclists, in the form of cardboard caricatures using both the technology in the Volkswagen vehicles and a more refined driver skillset in the dark environment of an unlit racetrack.
A night driving curriculum that is free to all South Africans
In addition, through Night School, Volkswagen has developed a comprehensive open-source online curriculum fully dedicated to night-time driving education and includes learner tests at the end of each chapter. This online curriculum is free and accessible to all road users looking to become safer drivers at night and will launch on 1 November.
Interested people can enrol for Volkswagen's Night School curriculum by visiting the website here.
