Arrive Alive Tour: Distracted Driving Simulator Visits Lompoc High School

The Arrive Alive Tour has made it’s way back out onto the road with our distracted driving simulator. One of the first stops for the spring tour happened to be at Lompoc High School in Lompoc, California. The students were able to experience the dangers of texting while driving in a controlled environment.

Arrive Alive Tour - distracted driving simulator - Lompoc HS 2

Students Try Out Simulator

Thanks to the Lompoc Record, they were able to capture some of the students going through the actual distracted driving simulator. The students were able to experience the effects of both drinking and driving and texting while driving. One of the students, Adam Beck, tried to navigate down the street while driving the vehicle with a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit. Needless to say, it did not go well for Beck, “I crashed right away. It was bad.”

A Critical Issue

When we all think about it, drinking and driving has affected most of us, in some way. Because of that, that is why these simulators are such an important thing for students to try out. They can see the effects of drinking or texting while driving, but doing it in a controlled environment. Lompoc High teacher Andrew Jones agreed, “Everybody has probably been directly affected by an alcohol-related incident. They’re about to get their driver’s license and get behind the wheel, so it’s about that time for them to get a little more responsible. Hopefully, this is something that schools can incorporate a couple times a year just so the word continues to get out.”

Arrive Alive Tour Sponsors

If you are looking to bring the distracted driving simulator, many companies or local police stations will help sponsor the event. For Lompoc High, the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital helped bring it to the area. Jessica Aten is a pediatric injury prevention specialist at Cottage Hospital. She stated that Cottage Hospital started working with UNITE about a year and a half ago.

For her job, Aten is trying to cut down on the number of kids arriving at the hospital’s trauma center with preventable injuries. Because of that, Aten feels the Arrive Alive Tour is perfect for kids to learn in a fun, engaging way, “This gets them thinking. It gets the conversation going and hopefully it can change some behavior out there — that’s the goal.”

Arrive Alive Tour - distracted driving simulator - Lompoc HS 2

Distracted Driving Programs

Of course, the Arrive Alive Tour travels throughout the country with their drinking while driving and texting while driving simulators. You can bring this educational program to your campus and help teach the dangers of distracted driving to your students.