Coppell: Teen drivers get a feel for the wheel through simulators

When Larry Ahee's daughter, Natalie, started driving, he wanted to give her every advantage possible.

So rather than rely on conventional drives around town, he enrolled her in Greg Vachon's Simulated Virtual Driver school in Coppell.

"That way," said Mr. Ahee, "she learned the little things we don't think about because it's second nature to those of us who have been driving for years.

"Someone walks in front of you or fatigue sets in – that's where the danger lies," he said.

Mr. Vachon established the school because he saw gaps between drivers' education and the real world as his daughter learned to drive.

"She was doing the parking lot thing, but you cannot practice passing in a parking lot," he said.

Mr. Vachon, whose other job is investigating accident and death claims for insurance companies, said he is in business to save lives.

"We are fully committed to help reverse the upward trend of traffic fatalities caused by driver inexperience," he said.

His school uses driving simulator programs developed by Raydon, a Daytona Beach, Fla.-based company that builds simulator technology used in military training.

Mr. Vachon's school isn't just after first-time drivers. He is also targeting college-bound students. Although the problems associated with teenaged drivers is widely known, the spike in automobile deaths for drivers right out of high school is not, he said.

The reason for the spike is teens who have been driving for a year or two believe they have the experience they need to safely drive in all road and weather conditions, he said. His company has pledged more than $100,000 worth of free Targeted Collision Avoidance Training for any new college student. The offer is good through Sept. 28.

Kaitlin Sullivan, a freshman at Baylor University, took the course when she was a senior at Coppell High School.

"Even though I've been driving for a while, the course exposed me to situations that I had not handled yet, like driving in a heavy downpour and trying to concentrate with three to four distractions going on," Ms. Sullivan said.

Virginia Norwood can't imagine teens not taking the course. As soon as she heard it was available, she signed up her grandson, Kevin Norwood.

"One of the things he learned was what to do when you're on a highway and the car in front of you loses its wheel," Ms. Norwood said.

"I just think learning the rules of the road before you actually get on the road is a great learning experience..

By Stefanie Ackerman, Staff Writer, Star Community Newspapers

Two unlicensed 16-year olds were driving around a neighborhood Thursday afternoon in Mckinney, when they plowed into the back of Greg Vachon's wife's car.  The duo drove away from the scene of the accident, but the mother returned to make restitution with Vachon.

"I certainly learned first hand the challenges that are out there," said Vachon, a co-owner of the Simulated Virtual Driver, a Texas Corporation.

Vachon and partner Skip Fitzpatrick of Flower Mound are bringing what was once military training software to the private sector to help teens and businesses improve and assess driving ability.

"Whatever we're doing in American society, whatever we're doing to our kids to teach them to drive, it's not working.  At least to the degree it should be," said Fitzpatrick, the transplanted New Yorker.

Fitzpatrick recenty retired as an insurance fraud investigator and pursued other interests, such as swimming daily and World War II simulator video games.  The interest in simulated video games pointed him to the virtual driver course.

The two men found out that Virtual Driver, an extension of the simulated training systems used to train military personnel for 16 years, was available to the public and plan to open their supplemental driving school Sept. 31 at 720 S. Denton Tap Road in Coppell.

The Simulator is exactly like sitting in a car.  The driver has three screens before them, to represent the windshield.

Different situations are simulated for the driver, such as driving in the dark while raining, snow, passing cars at 55 mph, kids running in the street and other various hazardous conditions that student drivers would otherwise not experience, particularly in the sunny dry conditions of Texas.

"We're in the business of saving lives," Vachon said, announcing the motto for the company.

More teens are dieing in auto accidents every year according to the National Safety Council.  Car accidents are the leading cause of death among 16-20-year-olds.  One in five traffic fatalities involves a driver or passenger in that age group.

Fitzpatrick and Vachon both accredit this "epidemic" to poor training for new drivers.

"It certainly goes to show you, the need as far as additional training and we are committed to that," Vachon said.  "The problem is we see it and learn something in driver's ed and there isn't a way to practice, say, lane changes at 55 mph, unless you do it and with a number of dangers doing it the first time," said Vachon.

The simulated situations are not meant to replace real life driving experiences, Fitzpatrick said, they are supplemental and meant to expose new drivers to conditions they might not experience during a six-hour driver's education course.

"We are convinced that the training, practice and skills developed on our simulators will produce better and safer drivers," commented Fitzpatrick.

The two courses the group initially offered are street ready and defensive driving.  Street ready is a four-hour course designed for new teen drivers and comes with a National Safety Council certification when the course is completed.

For the experienced and new driver, an interactive defensive driving course is available as well.  It has a module to produce a graded assessment highlighting weak areas.

Simulated Virtual Driver will open its phone lines and website Sept. 1.  For information go to svdriver.com or e-mail sales@svdriver.com.  Call 972-304-3300 to set up an appointment.

Contact staff writer Stefanie Ackerman at 972-538-2117 or sackerman@acnpapers.com.