Saskatchewan drivers were the first in Canada to experience the WheelSwap virtual reality experience. The purpose of the VR experience is to navigate the road from a cyclist’s perspective.
The driver training program also allows participants to experience not only virtual but real-life driving situations. The goal is to help drivers recognize vehicle handling, hazards and collision avoidance, as well as the effects of drug and alcohol impairment.
“Once they drive in a simulated impaired state, there are these things called fatal vision goggles and they simulate alcohol impairment,” Dave Drimmie, lead instructor of Ford Driving Skills for Life, said in Saskatoon on Tuesday.
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“There is like an enlightenment that goes off, once they get out of the car they realize that they can’t drive impaired because they weave all over the course, they run over pylons, they miss the stop signs we have out there.”
With prairie winters and a busy Thanksgiving long weekend approaching, the program also aims to remind drivers to stay safe in every environment.
Gerald Wood, Ford Canada’s western region general manager, stressed why this program is so important.
“It’s primarily a program for school aged kids, although we have some parents here that we have put in the cars as well. To teach them some driving skills that go beyond what you might consider a traditional driver training program.”
It’s vital to remember the importance of safe driving, especially for new drivers.
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