Mercedes-Benz driving events help professionals perfect skills

Professional drivers generally come in one of three job descriptions: transportation logistics, racers, and chauffeurs. Transport logistical drivers are those who carry freight both large and small - a type of professional driver I have been, in fact. Racers are the NASCAR and similar racing drivers that most of us associate with professional drivers. Chauffeurs range from taxi drivers to school bus drivers to the elite limousine driver pictured here.

Mercedes-Benz is concerned mainly with the chauffeur. Rightly so, since the car brand is likely the most-often used chauffeur-driven limousine in the world. A new video from the company showcases the carmaker's premier driving school aimed directly at the cream of the crop in limo drivers. If your job is to drive a taxi or shuttle people from the airport to hotels, you probably don't require this level of training. If you routinely drive or are in the employ of diplomats, celebrities, or politicians? Then this is exactly what you need.

A new video from Mercedes showcases the school and explains some of what is learned during the heavy winters of the Swiss Alps. Most of the training focuses on handling a vehicle in adverse conditions and pulling the car out of slides. It also explains evasion techniques in this type of weather - some of the most difficult maneuvers to safely pull off on ice including drifting during cornering, an essential high-speed trick. The video, of course, showcases the latter repeatedly, since it is as dramatic to watch as it is to perform.

Most professional chauffeurs, however, focus on the comfort of their charges, not on these seemingly reckless moves. Although the occasional flight from would-be gunmen or angry mobs may be required of them, most of the chauffeur's job is in making sure that the dignitary in the back seat gets to appointments on time and without spilling coffee on the leather briefcase or their person.

The five-minute video from Mercedes shows how their Professional Driver's Training program at the Mercedes-Benz Driving Events is conducted. Watch to learn more: