VR Simulation Aims to Deter Distracted Driving

Department of Public Safety Uses VR simulation in Effort to Deter Distracted Driving
By
Gabi Weiss

As virtual reality (VR) gains popularity within today’s culture, its functions are being put to use in constructive ways that can help secure the prosperity and safety of our future.

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) in North Carolina decided to tap into the benefits of using VR in order to promote safe driving at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC – Chapel Hill). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately nine people are killed every day in the United States due to distracted driving. Moreover, it is reported that drivers under age 20 have the highest number of fatal crashes caused from distraction¹.

Due to the fact that a large portion of young adults are concentrated on college campuses, the DPS in North Carolina hosted a VR simulation event at UNC – Chapel Hill last year in hopes of highlighting risks associated with dangerous driving habits. The event took place in the student union where students were asked to put on VR goggles in order to become immersed into a 360-degree experience. Students were placed into a scenario illustrating the consequences of texting and driving.

Instead of relaying information through traditional means such as text and/or videos, VR allowed students to experience the risk of distracted driving firsthand. Many students felt that entering a new world where they were able to witness their death was pivotally influential.

According to The Daily Tar Heel, UNC – Chapel Hill student Sneha Kumar felt she gained an elevated sense of the consequences behind texting while driving, due to the “relatable and realistic” qualities of VR. Another UNC – Chapel Hill student, Yujin Smith, felt a sense of surprise when the VR simulation illustrated her death, where she directly witnessed her body ascending into the sky.

“It was weird, I didn’t know what was happening…and all of a sudden I died,” Smith said.

Chief of the DPS in North Carolina, Jeff McCracken, expressed the need for a VR simulator to leave students truly impacted. He noted the importance of being aware of one’s surroundings when driving. Using a VR simulator provided students with the next closest thing to a new, hypothetical real-like world, allowing them to grasp the imperativeness of focusing while operating a vehicle.

“I think that most people will understand the dangers of driving while distracted. What I think most people don’t realize is how easy it is to become distracted to the point that is has a negative ability to operate a vehicle,” said McCracken. “That is what you learn from the simulator”².

As a precautionary measure in hopes of deterring future fatalities caused by something as preventable as sending a text, college campuses across the globe and their respected DPS should follow the example of UNC – Chapel Hill. Other possible places to include VR simulations to promote safe driving could occur as a necessary requirement in obtaining a driver’s license. With such advanced technology, it is critical we use the benefits of VR to help achieve greater public safety for all.