On Wednesday, Willingboro High School 10th-graders took a virtual spin in the PEERS Awareness program’s car, a distracted-driving simulator. District administrators said the school is the first in New Jersey to use augmented reality simulations in a driver’s education course.
WILLINGBORO — Students grouped together in the cold outside the township high school Tuesday to watch their friends steer their way through virtual cityscapes, playfully teasing when a friend made an error, driving too fast or hitting an object.
The virtual drive was no video game, although it looked a bit like one.
It was all meant to reinforce distracted driving lessons from the 10th-grade students’ driver’s education course. The township high school yesterday became the first in the state to use an augmented reality driving simulation in a driver’s education class, according to school administrators.
Slipping into the driver’s seat of a stationary car and donning a pair of glasses, students had to try to maneuver the vehicle and follow the rules of the road, stopping for red lights and obeying the speed limit. All the while, they were urged to text, take selfies and chat with educators for PEERS Awareness — a company that aims to education young people on health and safety in a fun and accessible way, according to peerawareness.com.