Flower Mound Online News

Many of us have experienced or are preparing to experience the joy, and stress of having our children become teens and reach that age where they’re anxious to get behind the wheel of a car. That can be good news when you discover they are anxious at first at least to run errands, go to the store, or pick up siblings for you…anything to get some drive time in. That often quickly fades as they begin taking advantage of their newfound freedom, and in our area, it seems like the number of 16-17 year olds with their own car is far above the national average.

This author had significant experience in highway safety and the risks to teenage drivers early in my career. And the challenges for new drivers today are even greater, with greatly increased traffic, and more so, distractions such as cell phones, MP3 players, and primping. We always worry about them being out on Friday and Saturday nights, but an AAA study shows that teen afternoon driving, right after school is just as big a risk.
A Coppell business, Simulated Virtual Driver has teamed with a high-end simulator company that traditionally designs equipment to teach the military how to drive technical vehicles. The result is a virtual driving simulator geared to teens and individuals that presents them with dangerous scenarios in a safe simulated environment.

The simulators are exactly like sitting in a car. Different situations are presented, such as driving in the dark, in the rain, snow or on ice, passing vehicles or dealing with children running out in front of them, or cars running lights into their path. Car accidents are the leading cause of death among teens. There is no better way to safely prepare teens to deal with these encounters and expose new drivers to conditions they would rarely experience during a standard drivers education course.

With each course, an assessment is prepared for review by parents or employers. Currently, they are offering special courses such as the “Dangers of Texting and Driving” for $25.95, a “Drivers Prep” course for $49.95, and a “Targeted Collision Course” for $99.

For information go to svdriver.com or call 972-304-3300 to set up an appointment.