KARACHI, June 4: A safe driving course for drivers targeting college and training institute students and aiming at creating awareness of driving risks, inculcating a respect for law, courtesy and tolerance was launched here on Tuesday.

The course was launched by Shell Pakistan at National Institute of Labour Administration & Training (NILAT), said a press release issued by Shell. Initially the programme would be conducted in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi- Islamabad, and it had been planned to extend it later to other major cities.

Speaking at the inauguration of the first course comprising a batch of trainees at NILAT, the DIG Traffic Karachi, Saud Mirza, said there was a dire need for proper driving education to reduce the number of road accidents in the country. He praised Shell for launching the course.

The head of the transport department of Shell, Iqtidar Siddiqui, said in Karachi alone the official statistics for the first four months of the current year showed a total of 381 road accidents. These involved as many as 191 fatalities and injuries to 293 persons.