Driver error such as exceeding lawful speed, intake of alcohol, jumping red light, driving on wrong side, jumping/ changing lanes, overtaking, using of mobile phones during driving, driver fatigue were reported to be the major contributors. In addition to the traffic rule violations, driving without a valid driver’s licence and nonuse of safety devices such as helmet and seat belt are other contributors.
Road users who lack the knowledge and skills of road rules, improper driving etiquette, rash and negligent driving behaviour cause road safety hazard to people, infrastructure, and vehicles. Enforcement could provide interventions only to a limited extent to maintain safety of all road users. This issue requires a mindset change to prioritize road safety among the road users which can be brought about with better training and testing criteria to issue driving licence.
An effective driver licence system with a 3 Gate process is proposed by the Centre of Excellence in Road Safety (CoERS). This 3 Gate Driver Licencing (3GL) includes testing for driver knowledge and physiological fitness to drive at Gate 1, simulator-based evaluation at Gate 2 and on-road evaluation at Gate 3. The testing framework of 3GL provides an objective way of measuring driver behaviour, their knowledge of road safety and driving etiquette to practice the learnt theory in a simulator and on-road driving conditions before getting a valid driving licence.
The 3GL program is designed in such a way that a new driver after successfully crossing all three gates will become a well-informed rules-abiding driver who prioritizes safety over thrill driving. The 3GL program trains the novice driver under three main areas: 1. Road knowledge; 2. Driving styles; 3. Driver behaviour and attitudes. These areas are chosen to provide the adequate knowledge for a novice driver to confidently and cautiously undertake driving. The authentication system – Aadhar/Biometric identification used in G1 and G2 and FRS (Face Recognition System) used in G3 Gates will help eliminate the procession of fake driving licence, as currently 5.4 crore driving license were bought by fake documents in India. The licencing process, data transference flow and user flow movement in 3GL ecosystem is shown in Exhibit 2. The following sections will elaborate the process flow of 3GL.
