Proton has given NRL club the Wests Tigers' National Youth Competition (NYC) team a lesson in driving skills as part of the company's quest to improve the standard of young drivers and to make young people aware of the importance of responsible road use.
The Wests Tigers' NYC players are all under 20 years of age and compete against the other 15 NRL clubs in the Youth comp as a stepping-stone to the big league and while the players know plenty about rugby league they proved they still had a lot to learn behind the wheel.
The squad of young players were the first group to use the new Marulan Driver Training Centre 90 minutes south of Sydney where Safe Drive Training principal Joel Nielsen and his team of instructors put the young Tigers through their paces in a fleet of Protons at the purpose built facility.
According to Proton Cars Australia's general manager sales and operations Billy Falconer the program was part of Proton's ongoing commitment to promoting better driver training for young motorists and to the Wests Tigers NRL club.
"Proton has been closely aligned to Safe Drive Training for the past 11 years providing cars and back up to Joel Nielsen and his team as part of the quest to give young drivers a better grasp of the complex task of piloting a car on our roads today," said Billy Falconer.
"Since becoming the naming rights sponsors of the Wests Tigers Proton has promoted safer driving amongst the club's young players by staging an annual driver training day as part of the Proton Wests Tigers Safe Drive Academy," he added.
"Young drivers in Australia are not exposed to enough driver training and are often ill equipped when they take to our roads," says Billy Falconer.
"The best way to do this is through education in both attitude and skill levels," he added.
"The Wests Tigers is an NRL club full of young players who constantly train hard to improve their skills on the Rugby League field but when it comes to controlling a potentially lethal object like a car they receive very little real training and guidance," he said.
"The management of Wests Tigers is right behind the program ensuring that all of the young players get the chance to improve their driver skills and attitude on the road," he added.
Wests Tigers CEO Scott Longmuir said the driver-training program was now an annual event and it has enabled the players to realise the enormous responsibility they have when they get behind the wheel of a car.
"With the high incidence of teenage road accident tragedies in Australia the club believes that it is important to educate our young players with training on how to avoid such incidents," said Scott Longmuir.
"Young rugby league players often believe they are bullet proof and while they can take great punishment on the field they often don't realise the often irreparable damage that can be done in a car crash," said Longmuir.
"Proton's involvement with the Wests Tigers is a partnership and we are keen to not only promote their cars but also the concept of better driver training for young people," he added.
Darren Moody the manager of the Wests Tigers NYC squad prasied the staff of Safe Drive Training for their mix of theory and practical sessions to teach the young players safe driving techniques.
"The practical sessions were a real hit with the boys. The expert instructors taught the boys how to recover from understeer and oversteer, how to swerve and avoid obstacles as well as experiencing ABS braking at various speeds," said Darren Moody
The day ended with Wests Tigers NYC winger Coedi Towney taking out the award as the best student of the day.
"At the end of the day all boys received a Safe Drive Training Course Certificate, but more importantly walked away with new found knowledge and skills on the importance of safe driving," Darren added.
Safe Drive training is aimed at making drivers aware of the physics of a motor car, the danger of excessive speed, the damage it can do, the role alcohol plays in impairing driver ability as well as equipping them with the skill to potentially get out of trouble in an emergency situation
The program is managed by acknowledged driver training expert Joel Nielsen who oversees the Proton Wests Tigers Safe Drive Academy.
