A new virtual reality (VR) app has been designed to provide young drivers in the Midlands with ‘real life’ driving experiences.
Created by the Safer Roads Partnership in Warwickshire and West Mercia, ‘DriveVR’ allows young people to see the outcomes of bad driving decisions, and encourages them not to make the same mistakes when they are behind the wheel.
Funded by the Road Safety Trust, the app supports the Safer Roads Partnership’s ‘Green Light’ young driver and passenger education programme, which includes delivery of an interactive workshop in school sixth forms and colleges across Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
Heralded by the Safer Roads Partnership as one of the first VR initiatives in the UK promoting road safety messages, DriveVR is aimed at drivers and passengers aged 16-24 years. The app aims to highlight how a split-second decision in the car as a driver or passenger could change the rest of your life.
The app is free to download for iPhone and Android and allows players to choose and customise a character and explore their social media timelime, before encountering fully immersive VR driving events.
Through eight different VR driving events – covering speeding, mobile phones, drink driving, drug driving, passenger distractions, seatbelts, rural roads and pedestrian safety – players can see first-hand how bad decisions can lead to a road traffic collision.
Anna Higgins, communications manager at the Safer Roads Partnership, said: “We’re really pleased to launch DriveVR and promote road safety messages to young people in a different and much more innovative way than we ever have before, through a virtual reality app.
“Engaging with this age group is a priority for us and we aim to provide them with simple information which will allow them to make the right choices as drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
“Promoting this information through virtual reality is a really exciting step for us and literally puts them in the driving seat, allowing them to see the consequences of their actions – both in the short-term and for the rest of their life.”
Want to know more about young drivers and road safety?
Key facts and summaries of research reports – visit the Road Safety Observatory
Online library of research and reports etc – visit the Road Safety Knowledge Centre
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