December 17, 2024, Durham, NC – iRT is dedicated to preventing distracted and impaired driving and helping drivers, prevention professionals, and community members protect themselves and others on the road. Plan My Ride is iRT’s interactive, multimedia, eLearning program developed with and for young drivers to teach safe driving skills to prevent distracted and impaired driving. Unlike other safe driving educational programs, Plan My Ride uses a science-backed and theory-driven approach to change behavior by teaching concrete, practical strategies to avoid impaired and distracted driving, and providing opportunities for young drivers to practice the skills they have learned in 360-degree virtual scenarios. The program is accessible on mobile devices and computers to meet teens where they are.
This article is the eighth in a series of articles describing how each lesson and 360-degree virtual reality scenario of the Plan My Ride program was strategically designed to help young drivers learn important information and strategies to prevent distracted and impaired driving.
Plan My Ride’s Virtual Reality Scenarios
Following their completion of the initial seven lessons of the Plan My Ride program, young drivers explore three interactive, 360-degree, virtual reality (VR) scenarios. The VR scenarios function as virtual role-play activities that help young drivers practice using the knowledge and skills they have learned throughout the lessons. Young drivers practice making decisions related to safe driving as part of each VR scenario to improve their learning outcomes and become more confident in their decision-making skills for safe driving. Plan My Ride utilizes VR to allow young drivers to practice making decisions in a virtual environment that is realistic and immersive as well as safe and less intimidating than live, in-person role play. Plan My Ride’s VR scenarios can be explored with a VR headset or on a computer or mobile device.
Scenario 1: Movie Date
The first VR scenario allows young drivers to role play making decisions as they drive to meet their friends to see a movie at the theater. This scenario is designed specifically to help young drivers practice making decisions to avoid distracted driving and speeding.
Throughout the scenario, the young driver faces several decision points where they can practice using safe driving strategies, such as putting their phone on Do Not Disturb and setting up their phone as tool for navigation before they drive. Young drivers must make decisions related to whether they should text and drive, if they should speed when running late, where to put their phone when driving, and what to do when a passenger tries to show them their phone while driving.
Actions that lead the learner down a route to text and drive or speed result in a negative consequence, such as missing their turn or receiving feedback and re-doing that decision point. Too many unsafe driving choices results in the learner experiencing a negative consequence – being late for a movie with friends.
If you are interested in offering the Plan My Ride program to young drivers to prevent impaired and distracted driving, visit https://planmyride.net/ to learn more and get started.