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Date: 5/1/2019
WEST SPRINGFIELD – During the week of April 22, West Springfield High School welcomed Distractology, a course that seeks to bring awareness to distracted driving and help prevent it in new drivers.
Distractology was developed and funded by the Arbella Insurance Foundation to show young drivers the dangers of driving distracted. According to the Arbella Insurance Foundation, “Drivers who have completed Distractology are proven to be 19 percent less likely to have an accident and 25 percent less likely to receive traffic violations.”
Distractology is located inside of a mobile classroom with two driving simulators similar to a driving game found in an arcade. Students drive in simulated residential and highway areas with varying speed limits. Distractology draws attention to several different scenarios that occur while driving, including a motorcyclist who drives out in front of the car, pedestrians crossing the street, hidden stop signs and oncoming vehicles in blind spots. At specific points in the course, students are asked to open applications such as Snapchat and Instagram on their phones or to try changing the radio station. If the drivers don’t notice the oncoming vehicles or pedestrians, the car will crash, showing a smashed windshield effect on screen. The program then explains what caused the crash and provides statistics about the particular scenario.
To qualify to participate in the Distractology course, students need to have obtained a learner’s permit or need to have been a licensed driver for less than three years.
According to the Arbella Insurance Foundation, over 17,300 new drivers have completed Distractology training.
Brenna Morrissey, marketing support coordinator for Arbella Insurance Group, shared, “We definitely try to highlight the distractions because that’s something we see a lot more often in youth drivers. They go through six or seven different scenarios including a stop sign on the corner or a pedestrian in a crosswalk.”
When Distractology travels to a new location, Arbella Insurance Group teams up with an insurance agency. For the course at West Springfield High School, Arbella Insurance Group worked alongside Western Massachusetts-based Ormsby Insurance Agency.
“A lot of teachers will choose to send out students during health or gym class. At this school, we have seen about 18 students per day,” Morrissey explained.
Reminder Publishing observed as two West Springfield High School students took the Distractology course.
The students were instructed to take out their phones and use social media. After both students crashed in the simulator, Morrissey explained the scenario to them. “You literally looked down for a second and it diminished any reaction time you had,” Morrissey explained to the students.
The girls completed the program successfully and each earned a gas gift card and certificate of completion.
“[The course] taught me that texting while driving isn’t safe and just because you’re not distracted doesn’t mean you can’t be cautious to cars all of the time,” West Springfield High School junior Erin Melvin told Reminder Publishing.
Sofia Laboranti, a junior at West Springfield High School shared, “It taught me to always look at your surroundings because people aren’t always looking and you might be missing something.”
“Two years ago, we redid the whole program. Social media wasn’t as prevalent when Distractology was created. We found that those who participate are 25 percent less likely to get in an accident. It’s eye-opening for them,” Morrissey said.
Morrissey continued, “When they’re in the texting situation, they see how quickly things can happen. The goal is to show them how dangerous it is and how quickly it can happen.”
The Distractology mobile classroom travels to several communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Morrissey explained that there is currently a lengthy wait list to have the course come to local schools. “Most schools approach us. We currently have about 150 places on the wait list. It’s been great,” Morrissey shared. There is no cost for Distractology to visit schools and agencies. It is fully funded by the Arbella Insurance Foundation.
The simulations used in Distractology are based on research funded by Arbella Insurance Foundation and conducted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
After completing the Distractology simulation at school, participants are asked to visit the Distractology website to complete an interactive video for a chance to win a $500 scholarship. For more information on Distractology, visit http://distractology.com/.