FROM BLUFFTON ICON - Mom is riding with her teenage student-driver son. She sees brake lights ahead. Her son continues to accelerate. She gasps. Grabs the ‘on crap’ handle. Son rolls his eyes. “I’ve got this, Mom.”

This is a common occurrence when in the car with a new driver. Is Mom being overly cautious? Is son being too aggressive? Maybe a little bit of both?

Students at Drive Time Driving Instruction, Bluffton, can now take an objective driving simulation to identify both what they are doing well, and what they could be doing better.  The simulator is an optional tool available to parents and students.

Researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) identified five common scenarios, which result in 40 percent of all crashes.

These scenarios are included in a Virtual Driving Simulation (VDS) and made available to driver’s education schools.

"Drive Time Driving Instruction is pleased to be a part of this pilot program," said Sara Kisseberth of Drive Time co-owner.

The assessment looks to quantify “recognition errors” – poor scanning, hazard detection, following too close, traveling too fast for conditions, – not as much the technical skill of actually moving the vehicle.

“The simulation does feel weird, as it does not include the kinesthetic sense of movement when slowing or increasing speed,” said Kisseberth.

“CHOP is recording an amazing amount of data while the student does the simulator which goes into the report identifying where there is a high opportunity to increase skills, or where they are doing well – indicated as a low opportunity to increase skills.”

At the conclusion of the simulation, students may submit an email address to receive the report. The idea is that parents and students use this information while gaining more experience on the road.

Drive Time students are invited to take the simulation in the Findlay classroom shortly before they are scheduled to drive with an instructor. Students who chose to take the pre-assessment will take the simulator a second time during their final drive with their driver’s ed instructor.

Performance on the VDS has nothing to do with whether a student receives a certificate of driver’s ed completion or passes the BMV driving test. It is a simulation. It does not replace in-car instruction or the actual driving test.

The VDS is also available at Ohio BMVs as part of the new “Ohio – Ready, Test, Drive” initiative.

“The goal of all of this – driver’s ed, experience in the car with parents, and the VDS – is that our teens are safe on the road. That they have the tools they need to make good decisions and avoid crashes,” said Kisseberth.