Difficult lessons that could save their lives or the lives of others were given to dozens of young novice drivers who were about to steal their parents’ keys and get in the family car.
The Ford Motor Company’s Driving Skills for Life programme, which aims to provide teen drivers with safety advice, was held on Saturday in Calgary.
Dave Drimmie, a representative of Ford Driving Skills for Life, said, “We’re attempting to re-enforce proper decision-making.”
Younger drivers had greater accident and fatality numbers due to their inexperience and poor decision-making, according to research.
Ford has spent more than $60 million over the past nearly 20 years to offer a free programme to newly licenced drivers and teen drivers worldwide. The closed course hands-on clinic focuses on obstacles that the young drivers could face that may cause a crash, including speed management, vehicle handling and impaired driving.
The impairment driving goggles, which simulate drunk driving, were described as “frightening” by novice driver Ella Cutler, 15, when she was operating the vehicle.
Cutler continues, “You can’t see anything and you don’t know whether you’re inside the lines, outside the lines.
“I was unable to see anything, particularly the cones. And when you had to turn, you couldn’t see how far in the lines you were,” she says.
Michael, her father, watched as his daughter ran over pylon after pylon as she navigated the curves. He hoped that this experience would teach her a valuable lesson before she hit the streets of Calgary because he knew she would eventually be living on her own.
Michael says, “I’d much rather her experience this in a controlled situation than make a bad decision and encounter this in real life.”
Only 13% of Canadian drivers on Canadian roadways are between the ages of 15 and 19, according to Ford authorities.
However, they account for 20% of traffic deaths, so Ford is attempting to change that figure with this programme, says Drimmie.
Ford claims that in over half (42%) of all fatal crashes involving young drivers, the driver was intoxicated.
Sgt.
The goal of the initiative, according to Dale Seddon of the Calgary Police Service, is to “get out in front” of the problem before a catastrophe occurs.
If we can get these folks before a serious incident occurs, Seddon said, “You can explain that to them all you want, but until they actually come out here and sort of experience and see what it’s like to drive when you’re not at your best, maybe we can get to these people.”
Young, recently licenced drivers test their driving abilities in a safety programme.
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