DOHA: Brigadier Mohammed Saad Al Kharji, Director, Traffic Department, and world champion driver and Olympic bronze medallist, Nasser Al Attiyah, appreciated Students for Road Safety during a tour of the programme’s state-of-the-art driving simulator at Darb Al Saai, as part of National Day celebrations.
The programme is part of the national One Second road safety brand and seeks to transform 12- to 18-year-old students in road safety ambassadors through interactive presentations and simulator training.
In 2014, about 2,200 trainees, including 1,500 students, benefited from the programme through school visits and community events held by the Traffic Department at the Ministry of Interior. The programme was launched a year ago by its owners Maersk Oil Qatar and the Traffic Department.
The simulator is the one of its kind in the Gulf and includes a full real car cockpit, an advanced display system with wrap-around screen and an artificial intelligence engine that reflects common behaviours on Qatar’s roads like tail-gating, failure to indicate, flashing lights and cutting across cars at roundabouts. The simulator utilises technologies from aviation and Formula 1 industries.
Al Attiyah got behind the wheel and praised the controls and the life-like nature of the simulator’s screen.
Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad Al Thani, Deputy Managing Director, Maersk Oil Qatar, said: “National Day celebrations are a time for us all to celebrate Qatar’s achievements and fantastic work that bodies like the Traffic Department and Students for Road Safety are doing to overcome challenges. “We are proud to make a meaningful difference to our country through programmes like Students for Road Safety.”
The Peninsula
