We would like to share an email received on this topic from Screendriving:
Subject: Learn to drive the safe way.
Message: ——– WAR DECLARED ON ROAD OFFENDERS.
“In order to decrease road accidents and carnage this festive season stricter measures will be taken against road offenders”… According to community safety, security and liaison MEC Mr Vusi Shongwe in the Mpumalanga Mirror of 4 December 2012.
Well it is January 2013 and 1465 loved ones were killed on our roads during the festive holidays.
Road safety is a key concern area for both the Government and the people on South African roads. Safe driving today requires a higher level of confidence and competence, given the poor traffic planning, increasing number of vehicles, lack of professionalism in driving and untrained drivers on road. In a bid to address these issues, Screendriving has launched a Driving School – its initiative for promoting safe driving. The school was the first to introduce advanced driving training simulators for better judgment and concept of route maps.
Screendriving not just imparts better driving skills but also tries to inculcate safe driving culture through special theoretical sessions for behavioural training and road sense. This Simulator, a unique concept in South Africa, is a stationary car cabin with all controls (steering, gear, clutch, brake etc) with screens in front to resemble a real life driving situation. The simulator uses computer software to mimics real life road situations and responds according to the drivers inputs. It offers the learners the onscreen option to choose from a variety of climatic conditions, traffic situations and roads (highways or city roads) to drive. In-house simulator training helps the trainee in familiarizing with the controls of the car, learn correct driving practices and gives him/her the initial confidence before he/she learns to drive the car on the road. The simulator training sessions acquaint a student with scenarios like moving off, stopping, turning, reversing, parking and negotiating at crossroads. Such sessions are a huge help for fresh learners, ladies and elderly people who are overwhelmed with the idea of learning to drive on our bustling streets.
What do we suggest.?
We would like to introduce this unique concept to the Mpumalanga Government . With this way of training students can start at a young age. By starting at grade 7 level at school gives the pupil time to get use to the driving environment and at grade 12 he/she can gain their drivers licences. Those who would like to study and know the car driving rules, skill, and acquaintance transportation condition overall need the car driving simulator; Students who are not the legal age gain confidence while driving under able guidance from reliable instructors. Students (children, primary, secondary) need the car driving simulator.
The Benefits of Using Screendriving Simulation:
1. Mobility: Mobile and can reach rural schools.
2. Boost time spent practicing without needing a driving permit, constant supervision, insurance, or fuel.
3. Self confidence: Become familiar with difficult manoeuvers before attempting them on the street: parallel parking, merging, passing other vehicles, manual transmission and double clutching .
4. Safe and relaxed atmosphere: Overcome driving anxiety and condition good driving habits to draw focus away from driver’s hands and feet and onto events occurring outside the vehicle.
5. Accessibility: Instruct multiple students in driving at any given time with multiple simulators in a classroom.
6. Students at any age (children, primary, secondary) can start training without a legal licence.
7. In a driving simulator we are confronted with a relatively simple environment, inhabited by traffic that sometimes behaves oddly. This is not an ideal environment for training experts, but is suitable for novices.
8. Cost effective: No vehicle needed, no fuel cost, lower insurance and takes the risk of accident risks of the road.
Scenarios: Should simulators be a tool for use in the classroom? Definitely, yes!
Can it replace actual seat time in a real vehicle for students? The answer is yes and no.
Independent tests have shown that using these simulators can reduce the training time by about 30 per cent. This driving education tool is an excellent way for all drivers to gain experience in evasive manoeuvres and to learn vision training. It can put you through perilous scenarios without exposing you to the real danger. What every driver needs to be familiar with is the “feel” of what their vehicle will do in an emergency situation. This leads to an understanding of exactly what the vehicle is doing or is capable of.
In order to change the students mind set, the training environment must contain the appropriate tools for the instructor and the student. Video, multimedia presentations, pictures, and relevant documents outlining case law and policy are just a few examples of these tools. However, these tools are useless unless the student that receives the training is sure that failure in simulated environments is not only acceptable, but will result in learning and becoming a better Driver. Students must also be able to apply any corrective behavior to an acceptable level and see that this will result in a better outcome.
I can see the day when the technology of these simulators will allow a driver to experience all the senses of actual driving. I can see the day when computers will have the ability to recreate an extremely accurate driving environment complete with wind in your face and bugs on your windshield.
But until then, driving simulators will have to remain a supplement to the real thing.
I would very much appreciate your time and attention to introduce my company SCREENDRIVING to you and how I envisage the offering of DRIVING LESSONS THROUGH SIMULATION in Mpumalanga Schools and Colleges.
I will really appreciate if you could somehow fit me in in your tight schedule and arrange a meeting with us. I strongly believe that you will become as excited as I am about this wonderful new concept of Learning To Drive in a simulated environment and how we can roll it out to Schools and Colleges in Mpumalanga to give our learners and students the benefit of being part of a Trend setting project – a first in South Africa.
Remember the old saying, “I hear I forget, I see I remember, I do I learn?”
Thank you for taking time to read this.
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