Fully digital driving

The Youth Safety Council of Vermont plans to help young drivers in Springfield learn the dangers of driving while distracted through a new high-tech simulator used to train law enforcement personnel.

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2016-10-28 / Front Page Fully digital driving Springfield students to experience dangers of distracted driving with simulator By TORY JONES BONENFANT toryb@eagletimes.com Paul Burroughs, CEO of My Decision Driving and Youth Safety Council of Vermont “Turn Off Texting” presenter, demonstrates use of the Doron 550 mobile driving simulator. — COURTESY OF THE TIMES ARGUS Paul Burroughs, CEO of My Decision Driving and Youth Safety Council of Vermont “Turn Off Texting” presenter, demonstrates use of the Doron 550 mobile driving simulator. — COURTESY OF THE TIMES ARGUS SPRINGFIELD — The Youth Safety Council of Vermont plans to help young drivers in Springfield learn the dangers of driving while distracted through a new high-tech simulator used to train law enforcement personnel. Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 1 at Springfield High School, student drivers can take part in a “fully digital driving experience” made possible through a new pilot partnership with funding provided by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, according to a press release from James Lockridge with YSCV. “My hope is that students will be exposed to different driving conditions — weather, rural versus urban driving, etc. — so that they can gain some experience in how to correctly navigate these conditions more effectively and safely,” Springfield High School Principal Bindy Hathorn said in an email on Thursday, Oct. 27. “As we know, it is difficult to be able to expose students to these different weather and driving conditions. What a wonderful opportunity for them to be able to participate in this activity.” Wallingford-based My Decision Driving operates a Doron 550 driving simulator that travels inside a 30-foot mobile classroom. The simulator is state-of-the-art, Lockridge said. It uses three 42-inch screens that provide a 180-degree view, and controls with haptic feedback — creating motion and forces that make “driving” it seem real, Lockridge said. “This pilot may help us change the driving attitudes of a whole generation of young Vermonters, making them safer decision makers and reducing major crashes on Vermont’s roads,” he said. The Doron 550 training model is usually used to train law enforcement personnel, and My Decision Driving operates the only private mobile driving simulator business on the East Coast, he said. Roads and “hazards” are custom-programmed. After students participate in a simulated distracted driving experience, their route can be replayed on the monitors, showing them how their distraction led to dangerous situations for themselves and others. Usually the council’s Turn Off Texting program uses a very analog tool: golf carts and traffic cones, according to YSCV. The youth safety council generally shares the DMV-designed Turn Off Texting program with schools during the spring and autumn semesters, when the weather allows golf carts to be used, to show drivers how dangerous it is to text while driving. Students try to navigate a course of cones while texting, and “almost always drive over the cones while they’re looking at their phones,” according to Lockridge. “The cones are proxies for pedestrians and other cars, and the students realize how important it is to stay focused while behind the steering wheel,” he said. On rainy days or the cold winter months, however, the program, which must operate outdoors, cannot be presented, due to inclement weather. The new partnership with My Decision Driving is changing this, helping to expand the first-hand distracted driving experience into the winter season. The YSCV and My Decision Driving’s goals are to demonstrate the effectiveness of simulated driving experiences as a learning tool. Working together with support from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program and Turn Off Texting sponsor AT&T Inc., they plan to provide a limited number of free winter demonstrations, coordinated with driver educators at Vermont high schools, during the 2016-2017 school year, according to the press release. “Just like with the ‘real world’ experience, young drivers live through the consequences of their choices while driving, but benefit from making those choices in a virtual environment. Their education is first-hand and leads to lifelong changes in perspective,” said Paul Burroughs, CEO of My Decision Driving, in the press release. The VYSC / My Decision Driving driving simulator demonstration will be shared with students on the mornings of Nov. 1 and 2 at Springfield High School. Driver Educators in Vermont can schedule the golf cart or driving simulator Turn Off Texting programs at yscvt.org.