When Columbus East freshman Trinity Jessie got behind the wheel of a maroon Chevy Spark recently, she pulled her phone out to send a text message. While she had the phone handy, she also managed to take a selfie.
But don’t worry — the car was parked. After all, Jessie isn’t even old enough to obtain her driver’s license.
And it was an educator with the PEERS Foundation, a Michigan-based nonprofit dedicated to youth safety and health, who told Jessie how to distract herself as she wore a virtual reality headset and experienced the consequences of distracted driving for herself.
It was all part of a driving simulator provided on April 16 aimed at educating young drivers about the dangers of using cell phones and other distractions while driving.
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"The importance of this is to try to keep kids off their cell phones," said Julie Piotrowski, with the PEERS Foundation. "If we can reach 10 of the kids out of the 200 that we see today, it really would make a difference."
Students in Kathleen Gratz’s health class participated in the simulator in the south parking lot at Columbus East High School. As each student took a turn in the driver’s seat, classmates gathered around the TV screen to see how well the driver could pay attention while they did other things such as text or use social media.
"The main emphasis is on texting and driving but we just finished our alcohol, tobacco and other drugs unit, so it kind of plays into that because there are all kinds of distracting things," Gratz said.
"A lot of our students are freshmen and sophomores who are just starting to get behind the wheel themselves. It’s a good experience for them to see what could happen if they don’t take driving seriously and pay attention.
When the driver gets into the car, each wears a headset which visually puts them in a virtual city. As they’re driving, an educator asks them to pull out their cell phone and perform activities as a distraction. The goal is to show students how distracted they really are when using a cell phone while driving.
Approximately nine people are killed and more than 1,000 are injured each day in the United States in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The PEERS Foundation partnered with leading automotive technology manufacturer Faurecia to bring the Augmented Reality Distracted Driving Education Simulator to 30 high schools in several states, including Columbus East and Greensburg Community high schools. Faurecia, with locations in Columbus, providing funding to bring the simulator to Columbus.
Bob Crockett, director of sales for Faurecia Seating said the company is combining its technology with safer driving habits and skills to reduce distracted driving.
In 2018, 89 percent of students who used the augmented reality simulator pledged to refrain from taking phone calls, texting and using social media while driving.
"I was nervous," Columbus East freshman Harry Major said. "Driving is a lot more work than I thought it would be — especially when you’re not paying attention."
Jessie was the one of the only students in her class to take home a certificate for safely completing the simulator. "This teaches kids the effects of being distracted while driving, and it’s so important to be aware of," Jessie said.
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The PEERS Foundation is a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based nonprofit that creative innovative and interactive interventions to engage and empower youth to make better decisions around health, wellness and education.
Source: The PEERS Foundation
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The Augmented Reality Distracted Driving Education Simulator educates drivers about the dangers of distracted driving by using a real vehicle to simulate the driving experience. The system does this by placing the virtual world in the windows of the vehicle allowing the driver to drive through a virtual city while seeing the actual interior of the car. This allows drivers to safely experience distractions like texting, checking social media, or using vehicle features like the radio or navigation system while driving.
Source: The PEERS Foundation
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