Young drivers asked to text behind the wheel to show dangers of distracted driving
Young drivers are getting the opportunity to put their skills behind the wheel to the test — but instructors are not making it easy, purposely putting obstacles in their way to educate them on the dangers of distracted and impaired driving.
The Ford Driving Skills for Life program is operated across the U.S. and Canada and aims to reduce the number of auto accidents where young drivers are involved.
This weekend, the course — which requires drivers to navigate through cones, tight turns and signage — has been set up outside the WFCU Centre in Tecumseh, Ont.
According to Canadian program manager Dave Drimmie, while young drivers make up about 13 per cent of Canadian licensed drivers, they are responsible for about 20 per cent of road accidents and fatalities.
"The main reason for that is both inexperience and poor decision-making," says Drimmie. "The program is all about behind-the-wheel, hands-on experience. We run them through closed courses. We always have a professional driving instructor in the right-hand seat that guides them through the courses."
Young drivers are tested through three different exercises.
"Two are the hot-button issues of the day that never seem to go away — that's distracted driving and impaired driving," says Drimmie, adding the third is centred on hazard recognition.
In the distracted driving exercise, participants are asked to perform tasks such as texting while driving, trying to make a call, hearing an extremely loud radio or opening the sunroof.
The goal is to give young drivers a first-hand account of the dangers of distracted driving.
"They run over the cones. They miss some of the signs we have out here on the course. It reinforces that fact that they shouldn't be driving distracted,” Drimmie adds.
Participants of the impaired exercise are asked to wear "fatal vision goggles" which simulates what drivers who have consumed far too much alcohol would see on the road.
The hazard recognition exercises puts drivers in situational awareness exercises, such as ensuring they have an escape lane where they can move if someone cuts in front of them.
Officials say this weekend marks the program's third year in Windsor, Ont. The first two events took place prior to the pandemic.
Registration is open for Sunday's training courses at the WFCU Centre. Anyone interested in participating can visit the Ford Driving Skills for Life website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.