LANSING, Mich. — Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan has committed to funding a unique distracted driving prevention program at 20 Michigan high schools. The program will be presented at schools in the fall 2019 semester. In addition to sponsoring the program at 20 high schools, Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan is also funding the appearance of the ARDDES (Augmented Reality Distracted Driving Education Simulator) at five community events which will broaden the reach of this important distracted driving prevention initiative.
ARDDES will attend the following schools this upcoming week. We welcome you to check it out!
School: City, State: Event Date: Time of Event:
Northwest High School 4200 Van Horn Rd, Jackson, MI 49201 10/15/19 8:30 AM – 2:20 PM
Cesar Chavez Academy High
School 1761 Waterman St, Detroit, MI 48209 10/17/19 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Wearing a Meta2 augmented-reality headset, the ARDDES simulator challenges participants to make quick decisions regarding realistic distractions from oncoming traffic, pedestrians, passengers and cell phones while ‘driving’ to avoid potential (simulated) collisions.
“We’ve made it as realistic as we possibly could,” said PEERS Foundation’s CEO, Mike Seymore. “We use a real car for the simulator, and in addition to seeing the actual dashboard and their own hands on the steering wheel, participants see oncoming and passing traffic in the car’s rear-view mirror and windows. A person could actually stick their head out of the car’s side window and still be completely immersed in the virtual world that we’ve created.”
Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan was founded in 1949 by Michigan farmers who wanted an insurance company that worked as hard as they did. Those values still guide the company today and are a big reason why we are known as Michigan’s Insurance Company, dedicated to protecting the farms, families, and businesses of this great state. Farm Bureau Insurance agents across Michigan provide a full range of insurance services—life, home, auto, farm, business,
retirement, Lake Estate®, and more—protecting more than 500,000 Michigan policyholders. For more information about Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan: FarmBureauInsurance.com.
With the Michigan State Police (MSP) Criminal Justice Information Center (CJIC)
reporting a 57 percent increase – from 12,788 in 2016 to 20,115 in 2017 – in distracted driving crashes and a 67 percent increase in fatalities from those crashes, there is no question that distracted driving is having an effect on the well-being of Michigan drivers. Farm Bureau’s sponsorship of the ARDDES program will raise awareness and educate Michigan families and communities about the dangers associated with distracted driving.
Want to learn more about great things happening in mid-Michigan? Visit the FOX47News Website.
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