More than 2,000 children in Dubai schools will be taught the importance of road safety in a roadshow launched by the Porsche Kids Driving School (PKDS) from Porsche Centre Dubai, Al Nabooda Automobiles.

The programme, launched in 2011, teaches the importance of road rules, traffic signs and overall road safety to five to eight-year-olds from eight Arabic and English schools across Dubai.

Porsche Centre Dubai has announced plans to extend the programme to 13 schools in the emirate, with the Al Ittihad School, Dubai National School, and the American International School kicking off proceedings last week. The remaining ten schools will be visited through to the end of the year.

All children taking part in the PKDS programme earn their first ‘driver’s licence’ before being tested a few weeks later by the schools on their knowledge to assess the programme’s effectiveness.

This was acknowledged last year when the post-event tests carried out in participating schools after the PKDS visits revealed that 95 per cent of 487 children passed by answering questions on road safety and road signs, while 58 per cent passed with full marks.

“As part of the PKDS programme, children are taught in the classroom about general road safety, before switching to an outdoor mini track where they ‘drive’ Porsche pedal cars and put theory into practice,” said Vijay Rao, general manager, Porsche Centre Dubai, Al Nabooda Automobiles, the authorised Porsche dealer in Dubai and Northern Emirates.

“We had such an encouraging response in 2011, not only from children and teachers, but also parents who said their children were actively reminding them to obey road safety rules and to keep safe on the roads.

“Instilling a lasting sense of road safety awareness at such a young age is crucial, after all these children are the drivers of the future. This is the ultimate objective of PKDS, and accordingly we have extended the programme to more schools in Dubai and we look forward to increasing this even further in the next few months.”

The programme uses specially trained instructors to give an initial classroom overview of road rules and safety, before the children have the chance to enjoy showing what they have learned while riding Porsche pedal cars on a mini track set up outside.

Other schools taking part in the road show from October to December include the Dubai International School, Mawaqeb School, Arab American School, Dubai Modern International School, Jumeirah Primary School, Latifah School for girls, Rashid School for boys, Dubai American Scientific School, Delhi Private School, and Al Khaleel National School. – TradeArabia News Service