D.U.M.B. car shows distracted driving can be dangerous

BY KIRK STARRATT

kstarratt@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

If you think driving while fiddling with CD cases, fumbling for change or talking on a cell phone is okay, a ride on the D.U.M.B. (Distractions Undermining Motorist Behaviour) car driving simulator is an eye-opening experience.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) brought its message of the dangers of distracted driving to the Apple Blossom Festival weekend, setting up the D.U.M.B. car simulator on Aberdeen Street during the Grand Street Parade Saturday, May 31 and at Scotian Gold in Coldbrook during Family Fun Day Sunday, June 1.

Media liaison Vicki Holleman, one of four student ambassadors traveling around the province to festivals and events this summer as part of the IBC’s community outreach program, said they get people to sit in the D.U.M.B. car and they simulate distractions. These include changing CDs, answering cell phones, counting change for coffee and more.

People realize from the experience just how distracting it can be to focus on these tasks while trying to drive and it opens their eyes to distracted driving as a danger. According to the IBC, 80 per cent of all vehicle collisions in North America are caused by driver distraction. Holleman said if you’re talking on a cell phone, hands-free or otherwise, you’re four times more likely to be involved in a collision.

“Our main message is that a distracted driver is a dangerous driver,” Holleman said.

The simulator tests driver reactions to distractions and features a standard-sized driver’s seat and a gas pedal, brake pedal, steering wheel, dashboard and plasma monitor.

“People say they do these things all the time,” she said about those who have tried the simulator. People are crashing all over the place on the simulator, but at least it provides an opportunity to learn the lesson without paying the consequences.

Holleman said it seems the most difficult drivers to distract on the simulator are teenage guys who play a lot of video games.

‘Difficult to keep focused’

Sylvia Corbin of Coldbrook, who tried the D.U.M.B. car simulator at Scotian Gold, said it’s challenging because the student ambassadors keep talking to you to get you distracted. She said she had to answer a cell phone and open a CD case among other tasks and found it very distracting.

“There are so many things coming at you at once. It’s difficult to keep focused on driving,” she said, pointing out she hit the walls a few times but didn’t kill anybody. “It really tests your ability and I’ve been driving over 35 years.”

Corbin said she loved the experience and would try it again if given the opportunity. She said the simulator is a great thing to have and even though it was challenging, she found it invigorating.

A recent poll of Canadians found that 89 per cent of respondents were concerned about driver distractions such as talking on a cell phone. However, 60 per cent of drivers indicated that they wouldn’t stop using their cellphones while driving, even when told the behaviour makes them four times as likely to be involved in a collision.

Bad crashes

This reporter decided to give the D.U.M.B. simulator a try and found it shocking how easy it was to get into trouble behind the wheel as soon as the distractions started.

The simulator is set in the downtown of a city, an environment where alert driving is essential. I was asked to count out enough change for a cup of coffee, which resulted in my swerving into a median. I received a call on the cell phone and endured several crashes into the wall while trying to listen to what the caller had to say.

I was asked to choose a CD from a case, which resulted in further crashes. There were points where distractions caused my speed to fluctuate, from much too slow to too fast in a 50 km/h zone. There was even a point when I realized I was going the wrong way down a street.

The experience made it clear that a distracted driver is a dangerous driver. Thank heavens it wasn’t the real thing.

There are as many as 3,000 items an average driver needs to keep track of during rush hour, including signs, traffic lights, other vehicles, passengers, pedestrians, road and weather conditions.