In a country with one of the highest number of road accidents, awareness about driving safety is much needed. One such initiative is Maruti Suzuki-Autocar Young Driver 2014, which concluded today, with Pranay Agarwal from Hyderabad bagging the title of “Maruti Suzuki-Autocar Young Driver of the Year 2014. In the final round, the thirty finalists took driving tests at the Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR), in which Agarwal proved himself to be the safest driver in the country, and walked away with a Maruti Suzuki Alto 800. ­

Abhishek Mishra from Gurgaon finished as the first runner up and Karanveer Singh from Jalandhar is the second runner up.

Now in its sixth edition, Maruti Suzuki - Autocar Young Driver is a nationwide hunt for India’s best young driving talent. It tests the competitors’ knowledge of traffic regulations and consciousness of road safety, along with their on-road driving skills. This year’s contest reached out to over 24,000 youngsters through an online theory quiz, followed by skill driving tests conducted at Maruti Driving Schools (MDS) across 42 major cities of the country.

The tests were conducted on a specialized track at the institute, where various obstacles of varying difficulty were placed. Tests such as Hill climb, reverse S-curve were presented to the top finalists. They were also marked on their ability to understand and follow road signs. These tests were judged by a panel of experts, who specialize in training drivers at the IDTR.

Smruti Ranjan Das, last year's winner also came to interact with the finalists. Talking with the participants, the commercial pilot by profession, gave the finalists tips to tackle the tests, and he said that being calm and composed was key to acing them.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Mahesh Rajoria, General Manager, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd said, “Being India’s most trusted car maker, we also believe in creating trustworthy drivers in the nation. Therefore, Maruti Suzuki Young Driver makes an apt platform to send across the message of safe driving.”

Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar India, said: “While passion and performance are usually associated with driving, we believe precaution is a factor that must not be ignored. Young Driver is our attempt at driving deep the message and method of conscious driving with the aim to make Indian roads safer for all. India accounts for about 10 percent of the road accident fatalities across the globe. We hope our efforts make a difference.”