Texting And Driving Simulator Presented To Students In Missouri

They were mixing things up this year at Thayer High School in Missouri, as the Arrive Alive Tour brought their texting and driving simulator to school. Normally the school puts on a mock car accident, so this was a big change for the school.

Texting and Driving Simulator

The Arrive Alive Tour program is a high-tech simulator used to educate participants of the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as distracted driving. The simulator allows participants to get a hands-on experience and truly see the consequences of the decisions they make behind the wheel. 

For the event, Mallory McKenzie and Kent Tiedeman, facilitators with Arrive Alive, assisted students from Alton, Koshkonong and Thayer. Thayer School Resource Officer Stephen Biffle assisted with the program as well.

Tiedman said, “It is something called inattention blindness. Your eyes may be on the road, but your brain is not actually processing all the information there. It’s really a reason why it’s really difficult to engage with your phone while you are trying to drive.”

Statistics

A video played to show onlookers statistics regarding distracted driving and impaired driving while the texting and driving simulator was being used. Some of those stats were:

• Underage drinking caused 1/4 of accidents among teenagers.
• When texting, it uses approximately 40% of the brain activity. This is the same part of the brain used to analyze one’s surroundings.
• Almost 2/3 of accidents happen due to using the phone while driving.
• A little below and above the legal drinking limit causes approximately half of the accidents from drinking. Why? Because of delayed reaction time, but people thinking they are “fine.”