Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Rustin students find out what it’s like to drive impaired on a simulator
Black ice, snow, rain, fog, texting, darkness and alcohol use are all driving hazards.
Rustin High School students had a chance Wednesday to experience them all in the controlled environment of a simulator, as part of the “Share the Keys Program,” a no cost parent/ teen focused safe driving program offered by NJM Insurance Group.
The students buckled in, used turn signals and spun the wheel like they would on the road, while experiencing the effects of everchanging driving conditions.
The program presented by NJM Insurance Group in partnership with Pennsylvania DUI Association is designed to save lives.
NJM insurance is a workman’s compensation insurer. Since then the company has extended NJM’s safety message from the workplace to the roadway.
“Saving lives virtually every day to change driving behavior,” is posted on a former horse van that houses about 20 students, an operator and a “student driver.”
Mike Martin, event coordinator of Pennsylvania DUI Association, flicked the switches that changed the simulated roadway from night to day, fog to clearing and made the student drivers feel and act like they were under the influence of alcohol.
Simulator accidents were common and Martin made statements about a texting driver like, “the blue car caused the accident but what difference does it make if you’re dead?”
He asked the students, “Are you nervous, I’m a little nervous too?”
“You can feel how much (alcohol) takes away from you,” he said.
Rustin senior Capri Mancini drove the simulator and said she would never drink in the first place. She said she had no control over the simulated car.
“I tell my friends to go with somebody else if somebody has been drinking,” she said. “Drinking totally impairs your ability.”
Rustin senior Taylor Verrekia said it was scary to lose control of the simulated car.
“When you don’t have control, you don’t know what is going to happen,” she said. “It’s dangerous for everybody.
“Alcohol takes away your reaction time.”
The program also includes a NJM teen driving safety orientation for parents and teens in the high school auditorium.
Supported by research provided by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the program encourages kids and their parents to become a team.
When parents set rules, their teens are half as likely to get involved in a crash.
“Where are your going? Who are your going with and when are you coming back?” when asked by parents, will save lives.
Forty percent of fatal teen accidents happen after 9 p.m.
Limiting the hours that new drivers can operate a vehicle and the number of teen passengers cuts down on accidents.
“Communicate with each other and get on the same page,” Violet Marrero, consumer safety director of NJM Insurance Company, said.
Car crashes are the number one killer of teens.
Martin said he regularly hears three statements made by teenage drivers: “I’m a good driver; they came out of nowhere; and it’s not my fault.”
“Their brains aren’t developed enough to process information, they know they’re in trouble but not quick enough and the difference with adult drivers is huge.
“Years after year of experience makes a good driver,” Martin said.
The Share the Keys program will be hosted at Rustin High School Thursday, Dec. 6, and is open to Rustin parents and teens.
For more information about NJM’s Teen Driver Safety Program and to learn more about scheduling a school presentation, visit https://www.njm.com/ teen-driver-safety.