Vanderhoof Students Receive Crash Course on Distracted Driving
Grade 10 student uses distracted driving simulator – photo 250News
Prince George, B.C. – A group of Vanderhoof high school students received a crash course on the dangers of distracted driving at UHNBC today.
The Nechako Valley Secondary school students did so by taking turns using a distracted driving simulator.
“Basically the simulator presents a scenario and it provides distractions you would encounter while driving. It’s a virtual screen and a touch screen as well,” says Diana Pozer, road safety coordinator with ICBC.
“When the phone comes up on the screen students are asked to text and to see how difficult it is when they’re trying to text on that phone. A dog may run out or a ball may cross the road. It just really shows how you must stay focused on the road.”
She says ICBC acquired the simulator last fall and notes it’s shared by 16 safety coordinators across the province with the goal of reducing distracted driving fatalities.
“The stats tell us on average there’s 88 deaths related to distracted driving in B.C. a year (behind speed, with an average of 105). And it’s preventable. You can ask your passenger to be the texter or you can put the phone in the trunk.”
The Parent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y) group helped facilitate today’s exercise.
“Our target age group is 15 years old, grade 10 students, before they start to drive,” says P.A.R.T.Y. program spokesperson Lynn Primus.
“It’s to instill some good driving habits before they develop bad habits.”
Comments
If it’s so dangerous why are the police still allowed to talk on their phones.? Are they above the law?
Posted on Thursday, January 15, 2015 @ 3:33 PM by Carpenter
If it’s so dangerous why are the police still allowed to talk on their phones.? Are they above the law?
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Technically, they are. The Act allows for them to use their devices while they drive.
However, being exempt from the law doesn’t mean they know how to drive and talk at the same time.
So if they caused an accident while on their phone the courts would turn a blind eye. I think they should still have to pull over to the side of the road
Actually I have seen them pulled over, making a phone call. I appreciate that.
Give more : ya right , that’s the joke of the day…lol
Hey Nagivator, so have I, many times.
Very happy to see the NVSS students taking this course, would like to see it as a course needed prior to getting a D.L. Perhaps it can be worked in to the driver training courses as well.
Then there was the city bus that pulled out in front of a loaded chip truck at Bon Voyage today. WTF? Talk about distracted.
The Police are probabley talking on a two way radio, hand held mic not a cell phone, the same as most truck drivers use, chip trucks, logging trucks etc. I used to operate a letourneau unloading logging trucks and talked on the radio all the time to the truck drivers with a hand held mic. As for using a cell phone espicially texting while driving would have been out of the question. I have talked on my cell phone while driving in the past and it is more distractful than a two way radio.
Yes they do talk on radio, but they also talk on cells when they’re driving which I have no problem with. In an active investigation they are going to, communication may be extremely important on a cell and that’s the way it is. They’re trained a heck of a lot better than most drivers in situational awareness and there’s a lot of other reasons they’re on the cell when driving. If they have a problem, believe me, they get dealt with a lot harsher than the driving public is.
Really wish the Motor Vehicle Branch would expand on distracted driving in the earliest stages of getting a DL. Something like, DO NOT DO what your parents are doing when you’re observing their driving skills or lack thereof.
X2 Griz.
metalman.
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