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Sitting at a computer, 18-year-old Amanda Geske connects to a web site to play a driving game.
It’s called ‘Streetwise’. designed to teach kids the rules and hazards of the road.
“To become more aware, to think things through to be able to react to unforeseen circumstances on the highway,” explains Christopher Noe, a spokesman for Mother’s Against Drunk Driving.
The game is part of a national program called ‘Road Ready Teens’.
Sponsored by Daimler-Chrysler and M.A.D.D. . it includes an online parent guide.but it’s the game that’s designed to draw kids in.
“There’s a lot more air of a video game to it, it seems playful almost,” says 17-year-old Christopher Taylor.
Playful. but will it help kids be safer drivers?
“You’re just pressing left and right, you’re not actually holding the steering wheel, pressing the brake,” says Geske.
“I really think it’s worth about as much as going out to the store and buying a computer game, because that’s all it amounts to,” says Taylor.
Some experts, like police officer Tim Roberts, who’s also a driving instructor, agree, “Certain online programs can come in and give a false sense of security like they’re teaching something to a student.”
Experts say the game may help parents at least start a conversation about driving safely but. there is simply no substitute for the real world .
They suggest that each time parents drive with their kids. they can point out both the obvious and the unexpected dangers that pop up moment-by-moment as they drive.
“Get them to be aware of their surroundings just like a copilot when they’re in the passenger seat buckled up beside you. Start the dialog early on, way before their 16 th birthday, before they get that license,” says Noe. |
