Occupational Safety
Defensive Driving
A defensive driving programme for drivers of work vehicles, delivered in one day for general defensive driving, or in three days that add safe driving in the desert: driving on sand and secondary roads, night driving, emergencies far from towns, and protecting the desert environment.
Overview
About the programme
Duration
1 day, or 3 days with safe desert driving
Delivery
Training venue · At the organisation's premises
Language
Arabic or English
Objectives
Training outcomes
- Raise awareness of the risks drivers face on highways, secondary roads and in the desert.
- Apply the principles of defensive driving: safe following distance, safe overtaking, scanning the road and anticipating other road users’ errors.
- Understand the physical laws that act on a vehicle, such as inertia, friction and centrifugal force, and the effect of speed and load.
- Plan a desert journey and prepare for emergencies such as getting stuck, breakdowns and dust storms.
- Maintain personal and passenger safety and help protect the desert environment.
Content
What the programme covers
Day 1: general defensive driving
- Definition of defensive driving and the driver’s responsibility; causes of accidents: the driver, the vehicle, the road and the conditions.
- Safe following distance, overtaking, traffic rules and signs, and driving on highways and secondary roads.
- Fatigue, distraction and phone use, daily vehicle checks, and ways to reduce the effect of accidents such as seat belts and load securing.
Day 2: driving in the desert
- Factors that affect desert driving: sand, dunes, salt flats, heat and visibility.
- The physics of driving on sand: traction and grip, tyre pressure, momentum and slopes.
- The plan for desert travel: journey management, reporting the route and return time, navigation, water, supplies and fuel.
Day 3: emergencies, night driving and assessment
- Safety guidance for night driving, stray animals on roads, and dust storms.
- Desert emergencies: getting stuck and safe recovery, breakdowns, staying with the vehicle, and basic first aid until help arrives.
- Protecting the desert environment: keeping to tracks, avoiding vegetation and leaving no waste.
- Accident case studies, followed by the assessment.
Who it is for
Target audience
Drivers of government and company vehicles, field teams in the environment, agriculture, mining, water and energy sectors, transport supervisors and the staff responsible for journey management.
Method
Delivery method
Interactive lectures, video and case studies of actual accidents, and exercises in planning a desert journey and using a daily vehicle checklist. The programme is classroom-based and does not include practical vehicle driving. Delivered in person in the hall or at the organisation’s premises, in Arabic or English.
Questions
FAQ
What is the difference between the one-day and three-day formats?
The one-day format covers general defensive driving on roads. The three-day format adds desert driving, desert journey planning, emergencies and night driving, and suits field teams.
Does the programme include practical driving?
No. It is a classroom programme with applied work, based on case studies, journey planning exercises and vehicle checks.
A programme tailored to your organisation
The duration and topics of the programme are adjusted to the organisation's needs, and it is delivered at its site, in a training hall arranged by the Center, or virtually.