In fact, he says the Motor Vehicle Act should be amended to include this stipulation. And since most commercial establishments that operate in the name of driving schools are neither sufficiently equipped nor remotely sincere about imparting training, Malhotra cautions that would-be drivers should exercise much greater caution while selecting a driving school, even as he admonishes the authorities for sleeping on the job. Excerpts from a conversation with Ashish Sharma:
Why do you think joining a driving school is essential before taking to the wheel?
With the ever-increasing number of vehicles, changing traffic patterns and the rapid pace of technology, it is more important than ever to learn driving rather than just picking it up from somebody. Always remember that your father or elder brother or whoever you wish to learn it from may in all probability have never been trained himself. As such, you would naturally end up acquiring all their driving habits, many of which may not be desirable. In fact, most accidents take place only because motorists lack systematic training.

In most countries, it is mandatory to enrol in a recognised driving training school before applying for a driving licence. It is not for nothing that India accounts for 6.5 per cent of the road accidents, while our share of the global vehicular population is just 0.5 per cent. It is time we followed suit and amended the Motor Vehicle Act to make learning in a recognised driving school a prerequisite for all motorists.

How should one go about selecting a driving school?
There are far too many inadequately-equipped and unprofessionally-run shops that operate in the name of driving schools. It is not just a question of wasting time and money if you happen to be taken in by their bargain rates and your own ignorance. The risks are far greateryou could learn something in an entirely inappropriate manner and end up endangering the lives of everyone on the road.

So, before you enrol, make sure the driving school has a bonafide office, has been in business for at least a few years, and employs qualified instructors who go in for a refresher course at regular intervals. Make sure the instructors are up to the mark, in particular, for a driving school is no better than the calibre of the instructors employed. In Germany, for instance, driving instructors have to undergo training for 40 hours a week for six months before they can be employed.

What specific rules and regulations govern the functioning of driving schools, and which of these stipulations are generally violated?
The Motor Vehicle Act lists a number of requirements like self-owned, leased, or hired premises for the school, with sufficient space for lectures, displaying of all models of vehicles on which the training is to be imparted, and parking area. Then, there should be a suitable syllabus, including theory classes, at least one vehicle of every model on display, and a well-equipped library, besides essentials like blackboard, road signs chart, traffic signals, dummy car, maintenance of all records, and preferably teaching through audio-visual aids. Unfortunately, all these stipulations remain just on paper and but for the cars required for imparting training, almost every other requirement is conveniently ignored by most driving schools.

What, then, is the solution to the menace of these undesirable driving schools?
The real solution lies with the people themselves. They should be much more cautious while selecting a driving school. After all, it's a matter of life and safety. Unlike our driving training school at Automobile Association of Upper India, where we also have electronic simulators and advance reflexes testing equipment, besides fulfilling all other requirements, most schools don't even have qualified instructors. The authorities, of course, are responsible for maintaining a strict vigil and regular check on the institutions they have authorised to impart training in driving. After all, most of these dubious driving schools do have the required licence, which speaks volumes for the callousness of the licencing authority.