Vision Zero event offers hands-on learning
JILL SCHRAMM/MDN Theresa Thomas with Vision Zero uses a controller to impair a cart as a participant at the Vision Zero Driving Skills for Success learns about driving impaired.
JILL SCHRAMM/MDN A young driver with a police officer as a passenger maneuvers a car through an obstacle course at the Vision Zero Driving Skills for Success event Wednesday, Aug. 5, in Minot.
JILL SCHRAMM/MDN A Vision Zero representative prepares to pull the lever for Kayston Honrud, who is strapped into the seat belt convincer. The device provides a short, 5 mph ride that ends in a simulated crash.
JILL SCHRAMM/MDN Theresa Thomas with Vision Zero uses a controller to impair a cart as a participant at the Vision Zero Driving Skills for Success learns about driving impaired.
JILL SCHRAMM/MDN A young driver with a police officer as a passenger maneuvers a car through an obstacle course at the Vision Zero Driving Skills for Success event Wednesday, Aug. 5, in Minot.
JILL SCHRAMM/MDN A Vision Zero representative prepares to pull the lever for Kayston Honrud, who is strapped into the seat belt convincer. The device provides a short, 5 mph ride that ends in a simulated crash.
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Although Camden Ahmann of Minot signed up for Vision Zero's Driving Skills for Success event because his mom made him, he was glad he came after experiencing what the teen-focused safety event had to offer.
"It's kind of fun," Ahmann said of the event held Wednesday, Aug. 5, at the state fairgrounds. After completing most of the 19 interactive stations, he shared the consensus of many participants that the drive through an obstacle course is the best part.
"I've done quite a bit of driving, so I think it's pretty easy," Ahmann said of the course. On the other hand, as he prepares to exchange his driver's permit for a license, he carries a new perspective on sharing the road with semi-trucks after sitting in the seat of one.
"I didn't realize that they have that many blind spots," he said.
There were 177 youth pre-registered for Wednesday's free event. Vision Zero offers the event every other year in Minot and Bismarck, rotating with a similar event in Fargo and Grand Forks, said Ryan Gellner, Vision Zero outreach director with the North Dakota Association of Counties.
A four-hour Alive at 25 classroom course also was offered for a small fee for youth looking for additional education and an insurance discount.
Alive at 25 and Driving Skills for Success share a common purpose.
"Teens in North Dakota are 9% of our licensed drivers," Gellner said of those ages 14-19. "That same group, though, is involved in 21% of all our crashes. ... If we can lower that 21% number, then we're safer as a community."
The youth attending Driving Skills for Success are those either just getting started with driving or who expect to start driving within the next year, Gellner said.
"We're trying to give them opportunities, in a safe environment, to try some unsafe things - more or less - or to get them to understand some things without having to experience them," he said.
A rollover simulator is an example of an opportunity to view a dangerous situation played out up-close. The "seatbelt convincer" offers a short 5 mph ride that safely lets participants experience what a crash feels like at that speed.
"They' not going to get hurt, but they're going to understand why we wear a seat belt, because we often don't drive 5 mph. We're driving 25 or 30 or 55," Gellner said.
Youth get to experience the sensation of impairment in walking a line wearing special goggles or in steering an impaired cart. Participants can tour an ambulance, watch a demonstration on safe towing, back up a trailer, view how wrecked vehicles are handled and sit inside a semi-truck and road salter to understand why it is important to be careful around those types of vehicles. Other stations teach how to find the proper seat and mirror positioning and how to check oil and change tires.
At the obstacle course, each participant rides with a police officer through the course once. The officer makes conversation and the radio plays on a second pass-through. On the third trip, the young driver must respond to text messages sent by the officer, who reinforces their insights with additional education.
Geller said the activity teaches the young people about distractions. By letting them experience it, they are less likely to engage in these dangerous behaviors, he said.
Ahmann said he is not inclined to to text while driving, even more since trying it at even a slow speed.
Parker Hatfield of Minot, who also plans to soon exchange his permit for a license, found trying to manage the impaired driving cart was eye-opening.
"It was kind of hard," he said.
Emree Marcellais of Minot particularly enjoyed the hands-on driving at the obstacle course, which exposed how hard it can be to drive distracted. Another highlight for her was the parallel parking activity.
"I've always been nervous to parallel park, but the guy who helped me made it easier for me - less scary," said Marcellais, who added she feels more confident now in her parking skills.
Having acquired a driver's permit but not having yet taken a driver's education course, Marcellais said she found the event to be valuable.
"I wanted to get more hands-on driving experience and just learn more about driving in general," she said. "That's why I came."