Teen Driving

Teens try out distracted driving simulators

Minnehan’s Fun Center in Lakeville held their Third Annual Driver Education Workshop, an event that provides interactive driving stations to prepare young drivers for various driving conditions.

The workshop was performed on Minnehan’s Bullet and Indy car tracks, using the Fun Center’s Go-Karts.

Working as instructors were Dennis Bzduch from York, Joe Shero and Chris Lambert from Livonia, Bill Devitt from Perry and Kevin Raymond from Keshequa.

The event was broken up into four different activity stations.

The first station was on cell phone usage while behind the wheel. Students were encouraged to text and talk on their phones as they were driving. They were also distracted by Deputy Smith as he drove erratically in front of them.

The second activity station was on blind spots. Students each took turns driving enormous vehicles as a way to see what blind spots look like in automobiles such as tractor trailer and snowplow trucks.

For the third activity station, students learned how drive in harsher weather scenarios. Bullet cars were placed in inconvenient locations along the track to show students how to navigate curves and how to handle a drifting car during icy or wet road conditions.

The final station was on drinking and driving. Students wore fatal vision goggles while attempting to drive and perform DWI/DUI officer assessment tests. The task challenged drivers to use their motor skills while “under the influence” to prove just how difficult it is to drive while impaired.

“I started this program two years ago,” said Bzduch. “I had the idea that we couldn’t have kids do things like texting and driving in a normal Driver Ed program, so I asked Minnehan’s to donate the Go-Karts. Andrew Long Insurance also donated $100 to the program. if it wasn’t for Minnehan’s, we couldn’t accomplish our goals and we appreciate all they do to help us deal with the concerns we have as parents.”

Click on a thumbnail below to launch a slideshow by Livingston County News Photographer Michael Johnson.