Milbourne, Christy
(
9/10/2012 8:28 AM):
Five Safety Demos Scheduled This Week
JACKSON, MS, Monday, September 10, 2012—This week, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) will show Mississippian’s at five events an up-close look at the tragic consequences that can occur when persons choose to drive or travel without buckling up.
‘Rover,’ the department’s safety-demonstration vehicle, simulates what can happen to unrestrained drivers and passengers when rollover crashes occur at a speed of 35 mph. The dramatic, controlled rollovers resonate with students in ways that verbal presentations simply cannot.
The ‘Convincer,’ another of the department’s safety-demonstration vehicles, simulates what can happen in a low-impact crash and the benefits of seatbelts. The Convincer allows riders to experience the force generated in a low speed collision.
The Distracted Driving Simulator allows participants a first-person account of the real-life consequences of distracted driving. Participants maneuver their virtual vehicle through various on-screen scenarios while text messaging with the computer’s program. Participants are then led through consequence videos and interactions with law enforcement and medical personnel, forcing them to “live through” the results of the decisions they made while driving distracted.
Weather permitting, there will be five safety demonstrations held this week as follows:
· On Tuesday, September 11th, there will be demonstrations of the Distracted Driving Simulator shown for the students at the Rankin County Career and Technical Center from 8:00 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. The center is located at the Hinds Community College Rankin Campus at 3805 US Highway 80 in Pearl, MS. (This event will be held indoors and is not subject to weather cancelation.)
· On Wednesday, September 12th, there will be demonstrations of the Distracted Driving Simulator shown for the students at the Rankin County Career and Technical Center from 10:45 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. The center is located at the Hinds Community College Rankin Campus at 3805 US Highway 80 in Pearl, MS. (This event will be held indoors and is not subject to weather cancelation.)
· On Thursday, September 13th, there will be a demonstration of Rover, the rollover simulator, shown for the students of Luther Branson Elementary School at 1:00 p.m. The school is located at 3903 MS Highway 16E in Canton, MS.
· On Thursday, September 13th, there will be demonstrations of the Convincer seat belt simulator shown for the participants of the Rankin County Learning Center’s Open House from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. The event will be held at the Learning Center which is located at 200 School Road in Brandon, MS.
· On Saturday, September 15th, there will be demonstrations of Rover, the rollover simulator, and the Convincer seat belt simulator shown for the participants of the Street Defensive Driving Course, beginning at 11:00 a.m. The course will be held at Meridian Community College, which is located at 910 MS Highway 19N in Meridian, MS.
If you are interested in any of MDOT’s safety education tools, please contact Christy Milbourne, MDOT Traffic Engineering Division at (601) 359-1454.
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