Many students at Richmond’s Model Laboratory School put on virtual reality goggles today. It was a part of an education program focusing on distracted driving dangers.
The large boxlike structure sat on the auditorium stage where three students at a time could take a virtual drive, complete with texts, crashes, and testimonies. Michael Stephenson with A-T and T says the V-R exhibit is not just for licensed teens. “So, we go to high schools and reach the driver’s ed, so they don’t develop that habit at an early young age, cause it’s a tough one to break,” said Stephenson.
16 year old Shria Holla said testimony from an injured teen and a mother who lost a son to distracted driving was impacting. She thinks the message is getting to young drivers. “I know I will not do it because I’ve also seen many things with my own eyes happen because of that. It is reducing a little bit though but not as much as it probably should,” noted Holla.
The smart phone distracted driving display makes some 300 stops annually.
