Driver Training and Company Budgets

It was very interesting. After writing the blog yesterday, a well known international company contacted us in regard to driver training for their fleet. To make a long story, short, they only had a budget of US$30 per driver, set aside for driver training. Yet one of the reasons they had come to us was because their drivers were having too many accidents.

Fleet owners will happily spend $20,000 - $50,000 on each vehicle, yet won't spend $200 on proper training for the driver of that vehicle. Am I the only one that can't see the logic in that? A properly trained driver, not only reduces the accident and death rates on the roads, but can also saves the company thousands of dollars in maintenance and fuel costs. Driver training is not an expense, it's an investment and should be treated as a priority.

Road crashes are becoming a ‘new health emergency for Africa,’ representing a huge burden on our health systems and an obstacle to our efforts to overcome poverty. Desmond Tutu

Kenya Road Accidents

Kenya Road Accidents

On my way to the office this morning I was listening to 105.5FM radio station. They had an entire segment on the road carnage that has happened over the last 12 hours . They reported that 30 people have been killed on Kenya's roads in the past 12 hours. They DJ was horrified along with many others that called in to voice their concerns.

The Daily Nation Newspaper reports the same with more statistics:
47 people have died in road related incidents since 3 December, 2007, while 76 others are injured. Most reports involve public transport vehicles of one type or another.

Kenya has one of the highest death toll rates in the world, with over 3,000 people killed annually, which means one person dies every 3 hours in Kenya from road accident related injuries.

Yet, what is being done to reduce these death rates? Glen Edmunds Performance Driving School is the only advanced driving school in the country of Kenya. We offer a variety of courses from defensive driving, anti-carjacking and other security related driving courses, along with 4WD courses - both on road and off road and many others. However, many bus companies, matatu owners and other fleet operators and corporations won't spend the money for proper driver training. If they do invest in any driver training at all, they choose less expensive companies that don't have properly trained instructors. They are merely "ticking the box" with driver training and it's not making a difference.

We would love to hear your opinions on this topic.

Security Tip

Don't Be Predictable!

Robbers an car-jackers often do surveillance on you and your home for several days before they strike. Therefore, it’s important not to be predictable in your daily routines. It may not always be possible, or convenient, but try not to be a creature of habit. Use different petrol stations when you get fuel, vary your route to and from work every day, don’t buy the newspaper from the same person at the same place every day, etc. If you aren’t predictable, the attackers may decide to find an
easier target.

SPECIAL LIMITED OFFER! 30% OFF ALL DRIVING COURSES

Dear All

We have extended our special offer of 30% off all driving courses until 15 December 2007!

I also wanted to remind everyone that 6 December is the last chance to attend our Performance Driving Incorporating Anti-carjacking Techniques Course until February next year!

There are also a few spaces remaining on the following courses:

4 & 5 December - Drive to Survive! Defensive Driving Course

6 - Performance Driving Incorporating Anti-carjacking Techniques Course

7 & 8 December - Advanced Counter Carjacking Including Vehicle Ramming and Barricade Breaching

13 & 14 December - Newly Licensed/Teenage Defensive Driving Course

15 December - 4 WD Off Road Driving Course

18 & 19 December - Armoured Vehicle Training Course

Great Gift Ideas for anyone on your shopping list! Act Now! Spaces are Limited!

The new 2008 schedule will be up on our website later this week.

Safety At ATM Machines

Security Tip - ATM Machines

Please remember as the holidays grow closer that robberies against consumers using ATMs are one of the fastest growing crimes.

To minimize the chances of being a victim consider the following: memorize your pin number; do your banking during daylight hours; use ATMs that you are familiar with; only use ATM machines in well-lighted, open, high-traffic areas, such as inside malls or busy markets; if lights around the ATM are not working, do not use the machine; take someone with you after hours; as you approach an ATM, observe the area for people that could be questionable or threatening; have your card ready; don’t count your cash in public; put away your cash and card immediately; if anyone suspicious or seemingly dangerous approaches, terminate your transaction and leave immediately, even if it means running away and leaving your ATM card in the machine; should you be robbed, do not resist and give up the cash immediately; do not fight with or attempt to follow the robber.

What You Can Do to Stop Global Warming

I don't know about the rest of you, but I find the whole issue of Global Warming very alarming. In fact, it's terrifying! The planet is in turmoil and unless we do something urgently, life as we know it will change forever. It's a very overwhelming topic, and easy to just ignore it and leave it to the experts. But the truth is, ALL OF US have to do our bit and believe it or not, we as individuals can do something about it!

When I search the web for information I find that: cars are the second biggest cause of global warming. I for one, did not realise this. It's not practical to live without a car, but if you have to drive, it makes sense to drive in the most eco-friendly way possible. Here are some pointers from UK:

Green Driving Techniques – Nottinghamshire County Council

* Service your car at least every year. Get the engine tuned, the wheels aligned and catalytic converter checked.
* Make sure that your tyres are inflated to the correct pressure. Under inflation by 7psi wastes half a gallon of fuel in every tank, so it's worth inflating to the manufacturer's guidelines (which are based on cold tyres, so use the petrol station nearest your start point to avoid your tyres warming up too much.)
* Reduce weight, and fuel consumption, by simply removing unnecessary items from your car that do not need to be there for a particular journey. These can include buggies, golf clubs, tools, footwear and so on.
* Avoid overfilling the tank when refuelling as spilled fuel evaporates and releases harmful emissions.

When you are driving:

* Drive smoothly – pulling away too fast uses 60% more fuel
* Slow down. Driving at 70mph can use up to 30% more petrol than driving at 50mph.
* Think ahead to avoid sharp braking - it just throws away energy.
* Avoid using the air conditioning, which uses 15% more fuel.
* It's better to switch your engine off when in stationary traffic. You use more fuel with the engine idling for 45 seconds than if you switched off and restarted 45 seconds later.

So let's not put our head in the sand about Global Warming. It's real and it's happening. And it's happening quickly! Otherwise, polar ice caps will melt, ocean levels will raise, nastier hurricanes will ravage land, droughts and flooding will become more severe and more often and the list goes on and on.

We don't want to leave a mess for our children and grand children do we? Of course not! START TODAY! Learn everything you can about Global Warming!

Gift Certificates for the Holidays!

Having trouble deciding what to buy the spouse or significant other in your life?

Why not give one of our exciting driving courses.They are great fun and add value to people’s lives by teaching safety/security on the roadways. There are many to choose from such as Performance Driving Incorporating Anti-carjacking Techniques, Drive to Survive Defensive Driving, Women Only, 4WD Off Road, 4WD On Road, Newly Licensed Drivers, Teenage Defensive Driving and more. Visit our website for more details: www.GlenEdmunds.com

The Gift Vouchers are stylishly designed and well received! And we are currently offering a 30% discount on all of our courses! Act now.

http://glenedmunds.com/index.html

Fighting with Matatus!

Dear Friends

The next time you are behind the wheel driving down the highway in Kenya, notice how many times you witness the phenomena of Road Rage, particularly with every day road users and Matatu buses! Are matatus a menace on the road? Yes! Do they drive us all crazy? Yes! Do they endanger lives? Yes! However, please consider that fighting with them and trying to "win" some imaginary war is not the answer! It only increases your blood pressure, increases your stress levels and could possibly get you into an accident or even a dangerous confrontation!

A wise saying found on the internet: Realize that you cannot control the drivers around you. You can control only the way you react to them!

Enjoy your day!

Child Safety in Vehicles

I was quite horrified today when I noticed a big white Toyota Prado pull onto a main road with two young children on the roof aged approximately 5 & 6 years old! They probably only traveled 1/2 kilometre before turning into a country club, but it was a busy road on a Saturday afternoon. Things can go wrong so quickly and I'm amazed that parents risk their children's lives for a bit of fun. In fact, a friend's child fell off a roof while on a drive in a game park and the vehicle accidentally rolled over the child causing serious injury. I know no one would purposely hurt their child, but sometimes people just don't think things through.

I've also noticed multiple times how parents let their young children sit on their laps in the front seat on a car with their noses pressed against the windscreen. Or they are allowed to stand up freely on the seat beside the driver or even in the back seat. Kenya has one of the worst road fatality records on the continent. Eight people are killed every day due to road accidents in Kenya. That means that some one dies every 3 hours from road accidents. Don't you think our children deserve every chance they can get to stay alive while traveling in vehicles on our very dangerous roads? PLEASE make sure that you and your children are buckled into a seat belt every time they are in the car, even if it is for a short trip.

Road to Morocco

Dear All,

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby would have never expected to travel on these types of roads. And if they did they wouldn’t be making jokes about it.

As you can see the roads the Dakar will take don’t resemble anything that we are used to. In Morocco we will be covering about 900kms plus on road like these, in addition to desert dunes. Morocco will be our first step into the African continent for the event, so it will be very important that we don’t make any mistakes.


The dunes in the desert can be as high skyscrapers, and traversing them is an art form in itself. The first rule we learnt was to never stop in the sand, as you can see, stop and you get stuck.

Because of the roads the cars take a pounding, good suspension is vital. Having the correct suspension makes the car easier to drive and saves the crew from intense punishment.
Having the correct pace is the key; it is dictated by how the car handles over the pistes and dunes. Car has a top speed of 185 kph but it will be difficult to sustain on the rough terrain. Keeping going forward and not damaging the car is imperative.

Tyres are another factor in the Dakar equasion, we will be constantly letting the tyres down for the dunes and pumping them up for the rocks and road sections. In a day we may adjust tyre pressures five or six times. We have installed a special pressurized tank onboard that can help us pressurize the tyres quickly. We will also be watching that we don’t get too many punctures.

The engine is a BMW 6 cylinder turbo diesel, there have been trouble with the turbochargers in the past, which seems to be traced back to cars being stalled in the dunes, while the turbo continues to spin at high rpm. To counter this we have fitted a “turbo oilier” which should give the turbo longer life. In addition, dust is a factor so we had a “snorkel” fitted this reduces power slightly but saves the air filter. The snorkel sucks air from the cleaner air above the windscreen.

If we are able to bring the car to the evening bivouacs’, with as little damage as possible, it will enable the team to do a more thorough job on the whole car rather than wasting time on accident damage and repairs.

Fatigue is going to be a BIG factor on the Morocco leg, with the pounding in the car, heat, concentration, all sapping energy. Water intake, eating, and getting some sleep when possible will be an essential part of surviving the Morocco stage.

4 November '07 - Crime Alert

I would like to pass on an alert to all who might wish to try using the (unbuilt) By-Pass between Langata road coming out just near Lenana School on Ngong road. I have personally used this by-pass as an adventure trying to see how it is and now realise what danger I had put my family in by doing that.

One of our colleagues in the Pharma industry used this bypass on Sunday from church and was Carjacked by seven gun wielding thugs. They proceeded to rob them and raped his house girl and threatened to rape his wife.


The thugs proceeded to use his car to go to the ATM and withdrew money from his Account. This ordeal lasted 5 hours and apart from his family, another two couples were car jacked at the same time and put through the same ordeal. The fourth couple to be Car Jacked were Europeans.

Please let all your friends know so that they can ensure that they do not put themselves in unnecessary danger.

First Post Test

Welcome Everyone to the Glen Edmunds Performance Driving School Blog.

We'll be keeping you updated regularly on a variety of subjects such as driving tips, security information, special offers, Dakar Rally information and much more!