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Students may
soon learn to
cyberdrive
Simulators may substitute
By Pat Gee
for human teachers in a
program for new drivers
Star-BulletinHigh school students raised on video games and virtual reality should have no problem learning to drive -- by getting behind the wheel of a simulated car.
The state Department of Transportation is putting Hawaii on the high-tech cutting edge by providing a computer online/simulator program for about 17,000 teen-agers expected to apply for drivers' licenses in January.
A law enacted last year requires that all applicants pass a driver education course and take behind-the-wheel driver instruction.
The department estimates that 35 simulators will be needed, but the exact number will be determined by how many students are chosen for the course, spokeswoman Marilyn Kali said.
Because the state can't come up with the 300 to 400 teachers needed to handle all the students, the online/simulator program is being offered to supplement state Department of Education and commercial driving courses, she said.
Kali said simulators will be available on all islands, but it has not been decided where. One option is to put the computers and simulators in portable buildings or trailers and move them to school parking lots, libraries and other central locations, she said.
The online/simulator course will cost the student about the same as the commercial driving courses -- $180 for six hours of instruction.
According to Kevin Curtis, president of KQ Corp., which is sponsoring the program, several simulators should be in place by Jan. 1, and the rest should be available in the following six months.
The program, called Zone Control Driving, was developed by Frederik R. Mottola, executive director of Driver Behavior Institute and president of Interactive Driving Systems. Instruction is given through an online course, and driving practice is done on the simulator.
Mottola said his course aims to create "a driver who has low-risk habits ... to compensate for all the ways he can be involved in a crash." He said the simulator would put students into hazardous situations to teach them how to handle them.
The simulator consists of three large video screens placed side by side in a panoramic curve to show not only what's in front of the driver, but on the road shoulders and in scenery on the sides. A steering wheel, brake and accelerator pedals, and other controls are available.
Weather conditions, six-lane highways and bumpy, narrow roads can be simulated.
Mottola said the simulator can monitor a variety of driving habits simultaneously, such as speed, lane position and the smoothness in accelerating, and offer constructive criticism as a student is driving.
A pleasant, female voice reminds the student to "watch your speed," or praises him with, "nice job with accelerating and breaking."
