RUMFORD — Robert Annese visited Mountain Valley High School recently and he brought along some educational video games. Annese bought, with a grant, driving simulators that give the option of driving while impaired (drunk) or distracted (texting and making calls). Two were set up on stage of Muskie Auditorium and a five-miles-per-hour crash convincer was set up outside. Formerly the police chief in Monmouth, Annese is now with Bureau of Highway Safety, and has had about 4000 students use the simulators so far.

Seniors Jake Poulin and Matt Hosie were the first students of the day to try the simulators on stage. The distracted option has the driver try to text and make calls with an on-screen cell phone while a friend gives directions to their house. The driver must watch for deer running across the road, pedestrians, other motorists and try to perform the given tasks. When the driver runs a stop sign, goes over the speed limit or hits anything, a police officer pulls them over and the simulation is done.

For the impaired option, the difference is that the driver has delayed reactions. This means that when the driver presses the brakes, it will take a bit longer to actually stop, simulating a delay as if they had been drinking.

“As of recently, texting and not wearing seat belts are killing more teens in vehicles than drinking and driving,” explained Annese, “so we are hoping that these simulators will help get the point across of just how dangerous these things can be.”

In the five mph crash convincer, the person sits in a vehicle seat, buckles up and the simulation begins. It travels five mph for a few seconds before coming to a dead stop. This simulates what it would be like to get into a car accident and what the stop would feel like at just five mph.

“Even though it’s just five mph, you can definitely still feel the stop. It gives you a good jolt, so I can only imagine what a crash would be like going eight times faster than the simulation goes,” said senior Renee Knox.