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Distracted driving at Fairhaven High

The Advocate - 10/19/2017

FAIRHAVEN - Nine people are killed every hour by distracted drivers, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

To bring those statistics to life, Fairhaven High School is hosting a driving simulator known as "Distractology" by AP Insurance Group this week.

"It was scary; you don't expect those situations that happened," said FHS student Hannah Arruda, after trying out the simulator Thursday morning.

Developed in collaboration with UMass Amherst, the simulator attempts to provide near-realistic driving conditions while asking the participants to change the radio or text on their cellphones.

"The safety reasons behind it are huge," said Kevin Dyer of AP Insurance Group, citing that as more and more statistics come out - like the aforementioned CDC numbers - it becomes evident that more-so than road conditions, the distractions within the vehicle are often most dangerous.

And for those looking to beat the system, Dyer said that hyper-defensive drivers have had some luck, but not much.

"Hundreds of students have been through this," said Dyer. "I think I've only seen three that have come through clean."

Student Lexi Teves agreed it was a different kind of experience.

"It's not the same as driving," she said, "but I feel like that was scarier."