Driving School gives owner hands-on experience

Battaglia, who got his first horse in 2006 and two years ago joined the ownership group of top older male pacer Rockeyed Optimist, attended the USTA Driving School in Goshen, N.Y., not far from his home near Saratoga Springs. It was the first of four consecutive years of the school being conducted in upstate New York.

This year, the 17th annual edition of the Driving School will be held at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, Delaware, Ohio, home of the Little Brown Jug, June 1-4. The school begins Wednesday evening (June 1) with a welcome reception/dinner and keynote address from George Teague Jr., owner of 2015 Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit and trainer of 2004 Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue.

Classroom and hands-on instruction will be conducted each day Thursday through Saturday.

In addition to offering basics for driving and training, the school’s curriculum has been expanded to include information on ownership of Standardbreds.
“It was a great experience,” said Battaglia, a CPA who has horses with trainer John Mongeon in Saratoga. “It was a lot of fun. I wanted to be a little more hands on. I like going to the barn. I try to stay out of the way because everyone there knows what they’re doing, but I thought if I could occasionally jog a horse it would be interesting to learn how to do it.

“I don’t have any aspirations of driving or training; I think those are beyond my skill level. But it’s fun to know I can take one of my horses out and jog them.”

Battaglia grew up going to the Thoroughbred and Standardbred races in Saratoga Springs. When he and some friends decided to give horse ownership a try, they partnered on a harness racing horse.

“We started with Standardbreds not knowing where it would go from there,” Battaglia said. “I just really enjoyed the breed and the people I dealt with, so that’s where I stayed. There are options for Thoroughbred ownership up here, but I like the Standardbred game because you can be more hands on, more involved.”

In addition to owning horses, Battaglia is the president of Heading for Home Racehorse Retraining/Adoption Center in Saratoga Springs. The not-for-profit organization was founded in 2011 and also features equine-assisted therapy in cooperation with ECS Psychological Services of Saratoga. A therapy arena was constructed with funds raised in memory of horseman Alan Kirschenbaum.

Standardbred horse owner Erin Christopher-Sisk founded ECS Psychological Services and serves as clinical director. Her husband, Jim, also attended the USTA Driving School in 2012, as did Heading for Home Treasurer John Cimino.

“It was a spinoff of ownership,” Battaglia said about the organization, which currently is home to seven horses, primarily Standardbreds. “We thought there should be an organization formed to better help provide an option for people who wanted to stand behind a horse after their racing days were over. We slowly gathered momentum and now have a permanent location.”

Battaglia looks back fondly on his participation in the USTA Driving School and still keeps in touch with a number of people who were involved in the program.

“It was nice to be around people who were enthusiastic about the business,” Battaglia said. “The people who worked with us were very nice and very helpful, from the USTA to the people in the barns. I was in (trainer) Rob Harmon’s barn. It was fun to learn the behind-the-scenes aspect of the business. As an owner, being around the barn is as much fun as race day.

“It was a great time. I would recommend that anyone interested in the business go try it out.”

For more information about this year’s Driving School, or to enroll online, click here. Those interested in attending should not delay; enrollment is limited. Click here to learn about incentives for attending the program

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Maruti Suzuki felicitates Mumbai-based women drivers

Under the ‘Unnati’ program, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), in partnership with Priyadarshini Taxi Service, has felicitated 10 Mumbai-based women who have successfully completed their professional driving training course
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has awarded 10 full-time Mumbai-based women drivers from Priyadarshini Taxi Service for completing their professional driving training courses. The training program was organised under the ‘Unnati’ initiative that was started by MSIL in November 2015. With this initiative, the company plans to teach safe driving skills, encourage driving as a profession and add to the professional workforce of India.

The first batch of the professional driving training course included 10 full-time women employees of Priyadarshini Taxi Service. The agenda of the taxi service company is to fulfil the needs of women drivers on call and develop a safe environment for travelling women, by women. The selected women drivers, who are economically less privileged, were provided training for professional safe driving in the city.

Speaking on the occasion, Mahesh Rajoria, AVP Maruti Suzuki said, “Unnati initiative is very close to our hearts. With an objective to impart driving skills, the initiative encourages beneficiaries to take up driving as a profession and earn their livelihood and live with dignity and respect. We are happy to partner with Priyadarshini Taxi Service for this initiative in Mumbai. These women here are the brand ambassadors of Unnati and their success stories will be motivating for others.”
Maruti Suzuki felicitates Mumbai-based women drivers

The other aspects that are covered under the ‘Unnati’ initiative are behavioural aspects with training in soft skills, customer relations, time management, etiquettes, financial management etc. The training program has been formulated with the consideration of the candidate’s background. MSIL plans to train more than 3,000 people from around the country under the Unnati initiative in a period of one year.

MSIL had invested around Rs 30 crore in the FY 2015-16 towards road safety and driving training. With this program, the company has setup no lesser than 365 Maruti Driving Schools and six Institutes of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR) across the nation. The ‘Unnati’ program, since its inception, has been carried out in cities like Bengaluru, Delhi/Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Jaipur.

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Study: Hands free devices riskier than drivers may think

If you’re used to hands-free devices or own a vehicle with installed hands-free options, you may want to reconsider whether it really helps you keep your eyes on the road, as these devices may be riskier than you think. That's according to a new AAA study.

To help start off Distracted Driving Awareness month, Denver7 went to someone who may know driving best -- a driving instructor.

“Distractions are more than just the distraction caused by cell phones and texting,” said Ben Baron, who owns Baron Education, which includes DriveSafe Driving Schools.

He has to constantly deal with changing technology in cars and changing habits among drivers.

In the Triple AAA study, drivers were tested using more than a dozen different hands-free options offered on cell phones and several 2015 models.

None of the devices passed. In fact, none were deemed safe.

The results also show that on average, a driver can be distracted for up to 27 seconds even after making a command, such as for directions or changing music on the radio.

“Think about all the time you’ve spent driving when you’re driving in a residential area,” said Baron, “and a young child darts out from behind a car or a ball comes across the street; things happen so quickly.”

The AAA suggests manufacturers focus on using the devices with the least amount of errors to help keep drivers from getting distracted and their eyes off the road.

As for drivers, the Association recommends keeping your focus solely on the task at hand: driving.

If you just can’t drive without using some kind of device, Baron offers this piece of advice:

“It is a social activity,” he said, “and you want to be mindful of what you’re doing to stay safe and what everyone else is doing as well.”

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