With the kind of road safety record that we have, it’s upto the young drivers of the country to spread awareness about safe driving. The Maruti Suzuki Autocar Young Driver 2012 was a search for precisely this talent, and the hunt is now complete.

Sudeep Ranjan Mishra has been crowned Maruti Suzuki Autocar Young Driver 2012. The youngster from Kolkatta also won a Maruti Suzuki A-star as the prize. Srushty Parsana, a student from Mumbai, was crowned the winner of the female category, which was introduced for the first time in 2012.

The Maruti-Suzuki Autocar Young Driver contest, in its fourth edition, saw a huge level of interest from young drivers across the country, with the number being filtered down to 27 over a period of three months and two levels of testing. The 27 finalists were flown down to New Delhi to undergo the last test at the Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR) on July 30, 2012.

The finalists went through a gruelling assessment, their every move being closely monitored by the instructors at IDTR, while they performed manoeuvres such as the reverse S and H-formation. Even things that most of us take for granted, like parking a car or watching our mirrors, were being rated; all in a bid to find the safest driver in our country.

We now have a winner for this year, but if you think you have it in you to be adjudged the best in the country, be sure to participate next year. Who knows, you just might be the Young Driver of the year.