Over 400 private and public utility drivers in Iloilo were trained to be smarter and safer drivers under Ford’s Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) program.

Ford Philippines brought its globally-recognized safe driving program at the City Time Square in Iloilo City for the first time as part of its commitment to educate drivers on the benefits of smart, safe, and fuel-efficient driving.

Ford has started to train drivers outside Metro Manila last year and has expanded the roll out of the DSFL program to reach more drivers in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Reinforcing Ford’s road safety advocacy, the DSFL is United Nations-recognized training program that concentrates on teaching drivers the necessary driving skills to minimize road accidents and driving techniques to save fuel.

Now on its 11th year in the country, the DSFL program is a combination of a classroom training that includes new modules on vehicle handling, driving in special conditions, anti-distracted driving, and fuel-efficient driving. One of the highlights of the DSFL is a hands-on driving simulation exercise that allows participating drivers to apply their learnings from the classroom sessions. The DSFL program is offered to participating drivers for free.

“The DSFL has definitely come a long way in helping promote road safety and safe driving in the Philippines, so we’re definitely inspired year after year to think of ways to improve the training program and extend the reach to more Filipino drivers. We’re happy to be bringing the program to Iloilo to help maintain safe roads and create a community of safe drivers and passengers there,” said EJ Francisco, AVP for Communications, Ford Philippines.

In an effort to increase DSFL’s relevance to today’s driving environment, the program tightened its focus last year in training more PUV drivers such as bus, jeepney, school bus, taxi, and TNVS drivers to be more safe and responsible. It was also last year when DSFL was conducted in key provinces such as Pampanga, Batangas, Cebu, Davao, covering close to 3,000 driver participants nationwide. Ford also increased the number of hands-on driving sessions to ensure that participants are able to apply their learnings from the classroom sessions.