Now in its sixth edition, the Maruti Suzuki Young Driver is a nationwide hunt for India’s best young driving talent. Aimed at spreading awareness of safe driving practices, the race tests the participants’ knowledge of traffic regulations and consciousness of road safety, along with their on-road driving skills.

This year’s contest reached out to over 24,000 youth through an online theory quiz, followed by skill driving tests conducted at Maruti Driving Schools. The 30 contestants who cleared the first two test levels underwent the final round at the Institute of Driving & Traffic Research and were judged by the institute’s professional trainers to select the safest driver.

Hormazd Sorabjee, the Editor of Autocar India, said, “While passion and performance are usually associated with driving, we believe precaution is a factor that must not be ignored. Young Driver is our attempt at driving deep the message and method of conscious driving with the aim to make Indian roads safer for all. India accounts for about 10 percent of the road accident fatalities across the globe. We hope our efforts make a difference.”

While Pranay ranked as the safest driver this year, he was closely followed by Abhishek Mishra from Gurgaon and Karanveer Singh from Jalandhar.