Singapore - Most recently, we were pulling big gs in the new Toyota Supra around the corners of the Sportsland Sugo circuit, so it’s almost surreal to find ourselves behind the wheel of another Toyota – this time a Vios registered to the ComfortDelGro Driving School – barely a week later trying to keep the gs down!

(Click HERE to read our review of the A90 Toyota Gazoo Racing Supra 3.0)

This latest exercise took place on public roads, and it was during the preview of the ‘Drive Safe’ initiative, which aims to make Singapore roads a safer place for our friends and loved ones through theory and experiential sessions.

The ‘Drive Safe Course’ is a collaboration between Borneo Motors Singapore (Singapore’s distributor and retailer of Toyota vehicles) and ComfortDelGro, and uses a real-time ‘Driver Development Tool’ with telemetry, GPS-tracking and multiple-camera to assess one’s driving style and to track any (subconscious) habits that one could have cultivated over time.

With the system’s multiple cameras constantly tracking the candidate’s eye and head movements, in addition to the car’s location, position on the road and intended trajectory, it picks up on minutiae that an instructor with a physical checklist might miss.

Mr. Lim Tien Hock, Chief Executive Officer of ComfortDelGro Driving Centre said, “As one of Singapore’s leading driving schools, we are glad to partner Borneo Motors and Toyota in making our Drive Safe Course available for not just Toyota drivers but also for the public.”

Olympian and Toyota Drive Safe Ambassador, Joseph Schooling, spent an afternoon ‘back at school’ – driver’s school that is – because like swimming, driving is all about discipline, practice and staying in shape, and “not cutting people off, tailgating or honking somebody just because you’re in a bad mood.”

Technically, anyone can sign up for the S$250 course, but new buyers of Toyota passenger vehicles from last October onwards are automatically enrolled.

However, it’s also possible for existing owners to sign up for this through the ‘Toyota ME’ rewards programme, which is open to both owners of officially-imported Toyotas, as well as parallel-imported vehicles.

According to Borneo Motors Singapore, approximately 300 participants have gone through the course since its inception, with a generally positive response so far.

This isn’t a new course, but it’s the first time we had a chance to try it out by putting our driving habits under the microscope… suffice to say, this author agreed to it only after finding out it wouldn’t mean giving up his driving license if things didn’t go well!

“Road safety is a way of life and not just a campaign,” says Mr. Samuel Yong, Borneo Motor Singapore’s Director of Marketing and Business Strategy (pictured above with Mr. Lim on the extreme left and Joseph in the middle).

“Toyota is not just concerned about producing better cars, we want everyone to be able to go back home safely to their loved ones. All Toyota customers have a chance to enjoy the programme, because one more participant in the Drive Safe programme increases the chances of everyone going home safely.”

PHOTOS David Khoo / Borneo Motors Singapore