YSCVT Joins The Road User Safety Fair at The State House

The Youth Safety Council joined a bunch of other sun-loving Vermont Highway Safety Alliance members on Tuesday for a day on the lawn of the Vermont State House, sharing our programs with the public and trying out AT&T’s virtual reality ‘It Can Wait’ driving simulator. Photos and the press release, below!

AT&T Brings Virtual Reality Driving Simulator to 9/13 Road User Safety Fair at Vermont State House; Local High-Tech Road Safety Programs Highlighted; Family-Friendly Educational Activities

• Who: The AT&T Virtual Reality Driving Simulator and member organizations of the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance
• What: A free, all-ages public fair celebrating Vermont’s efforts to make its roads safer, with demonstrations and a showcase of high-tech driver education resources.
• When: Tuesday, September 13, 3:30pm-6pm
• Where: The Vermont State House lawn, 115 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont.
• Why: The Vermont Highway Safety Alliance has been bringing safety-minded Vermonters together for more than six years, working together to make Vermont’s roads safer and help Vermont’s drivers make safer decisions behind the wheel. These diverse organizations and programs will be on display, celebrating the good energy and ingenuity they put into making VT roads safer. The fair will highlight some of the high-tech tools and resources available to Vermont communities to help them foster safer drivers and make their own roads safer for all.

Members of the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance will host a Vermont Road User Safety Fair on the state house lawn in Montpelier on Tuesday, September 13, 3:30-6:00pm, showcasing how Vermonters are working together to make using Vermont’s roads safer for all. From cars to pedestrians to bicyclists to horse riders and farm vehicles, Vermonters all share the same roads but have different vulnerabilities. Visit the fair to learn about highway safety in Vermont, the resources that can help make the next generation of drivers safer, and see some of the high-tech tools that are changing driver education in the state. The fair is family-friendly and educational for all ages, https://www.facebook.com/events/134941460287532/

Guest speakers at 4:00pm will underscore Vermont’s commitment to continually improving the safety of Vermont’s roads and drivers. Speakers include Chris Cole, Secretary, VT Agency of Transportation; Robert Ide, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles; Glen Button, Chair, Vermont Highway Safety Alliance; and Owen M. Smith Jr., AT&T Regional Vice President.

A touring public demonstration of AT&T’s virtual reality driving simulator will show with immersive 360-degree ‘VR’ what next-generation technology can do to help emphasize how dangerous taking your eyes off the wheel can be while driving. Research shows that seven in ten people engage in smartphone activities while driving, and people are doing much more than texting from behind the wheel.** People can also use Google Cardboard and their own smartphone to experience the simulation at home. To learn more and view a YouTube video about it, visit ItCanWait.com/VR.

Also at the fair: Vermont organizations will demonstrate high-tech resources available to educators and communities across the state, including computerized driving simulators available through the Vermont Department of Health, the UVM Medical Center, and My Decision Driving as well as the Vermont-made mobile app JoyRyde, which provides incentives for not using a phone while driving. An online public crash data query tool that empowers individuals and town administrators to search through Vermont’s crash data will also be available to try thanks to VTrans; it helps identify unsafe intersections and sections of road, supporting town efforts to seek resources that help solve those safety issues. Local Motion will demonstrate new technologies including eBikes, LED lights and tools for law enforcement to measure safe passing distance between a bicyclist and a vehicle.

Bicyclists and horse riders will find allies at the fair including walk-bike advocates Local Motion and the Vermont Horse Council.

Other participants include Project RoadSafe, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, My Decision Driving, and the Youth Safety Council of Vermont, VTrans, and more (see below).

About VHSA: The Vermont Highway Safety Alliance is a network of like-minded private and public organizations working together to collect, share and use data to develop highway safety strategies integrating road engineering and infrastructure; law enforcement and emergency medical services; and education and outreach. http://vermonthighwaysafety.org/

AT&T’s ‘It Can Wait’ is a national movement urging drivers to keep their eyes on the road, not on their phones. The campaign began with a focus on not texting and driving. It has now expanded to the broader dangers of smartphone use behind the wheel. Since its launch in 2010, the campaign has:

• Helped grow awareness of the dangers of smartphone distracted driving to more than 90% of audiences surveyed.
• Inspired more than 8 million pledges to keep their eyes on the road, not on their phones.
• Worked with departments of transportation in Texas, Kentucky and other states on research that suggests a correlation between It Can Wait campaign activities and a reduction in crashes.
• Collaborated with AT&T data scientists on research that shows how statewide anti-texting laws impact the rate of texting while driving.

To learn more, visit ItCanWait.com.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, mobile, high-speed Internet and voice services. They’re the world’s largest provider of pay TV with TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. AT&T offers the best global coverage of any U.S. wireless provider.* And we help businesses worldwide serve their customers better with mobility and highly secure cloud solutions. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at http://about.att.com. Follow AT&T news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

© 2016 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

*Global coverage claim based on offering discounted voice and data roaming; LTE roaming; voice roaming; and world-capable smartphone and tablets in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier. International service required.  Coverage not available in all areas. Coverage may vary per country and be limited/restricted in some countries.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

**Research commissioned by AT&T and conducted by Braun Research. Polled 2,067 people in the U.S. aged 16-65 who use their smartphone and drive at least once a day.

Event Participants:

Project RoadSafe

Contact: Norman James, (802) 229-8523, Email, njames@agcvt.org

Project RoadSafe is a driver-safety awareness program designed to assist both employers and employees of the Vermont business community to understand better the realities and consequences of distracted and impaired driving.www.agcvt.org/project-roadsafe/

UVM Medical Center

Contact: Chrissy Keating, (802) 999-0930, Christina.Keating@uvmhealth.org

The UVM Medical Center’s Distracted Driving Simulator is used as key component of our Txt U L8R Program. UVM Medical Center and the Clinical Simulation Laboratory at the UVM College of Medicine created “TXT U L8R” a unique program designed to discourage individuals from texting while driving. Key elements include a demonstration of an advanced driving simulator, presentation of a realistic trauma scenario, a testimonial from the victim of an accident caused by a teen driver who was texting, and a demonstration of several smartphone apps designed to prevent texting while driving. uvmhealth.org/txtul8r

Youth Safety Council of Vermont

Contact: James Lockridge, (802) 373-2890, info@yscvt.org

The YSCVT Turn Off Texting demonstration raises awareness about the dangers of distracted driving by putting students behind the wheel of a golf cart to navigate a course of cones while texting. It’s a unique, memorable and effective experience for participants, and the demonstration is provided free of charge in Vermont through a grant from the Governor’s Highway Safety Program and support from generous sponsors. yscvt.org

Vermont Highway Safety Alliance

Contact: Susan Clark, (802) 828.3397, Susan.Clark@vermont.gov

The Vermont Highway Safety Alliance is a network of like-minded private and public organizations working together to collect, share and use data to develop highway safety strategies integrating road engineering and infrastructure; law enforcement and emergency medical services; and education and outreach. vermonthighwaysafety.org/

Vermont Horse Council

Contact: Heidi Krantz, hkrantz57@gmail.com

An association dedicated to protecting the interests of horsemen and women and the horse industry of Vermont and to help communicate among riders and the public. vthorsecouncil.org

VTrans Public Crash Data Query Tool

Contact: Mandy White, 802-595-9341, Mandy.White@vermont.gov

The Highway Safety Data Unit of VTrans, Vermont’s Agency of Transportation, works to create a safe, reliable and multimodal transportation system throughout the state by gathering and sharing information. They’ve created a public crash data query tool that anyone can access to understand where crash data identifies that improvements to roads might be needed. http://apps.vtrans.vermont.gov/CrashPublicQueryTool/

Distracted Driving Simulator, VT Dept. Health

Contact: Stephanie Busch, (802) 734-4210, Stephanie.busch@vermont.gov

The Distracted Driving Simulator is a tool available to Vermont Drivers Educations classrooms to increase young drivers’ awareness of the dangers of distracted driving. Utilizing an interactive computer program students have a change to better understand what you don’t see when you are looking at your phone.  The program is supported by the Emergency Medical Services for Children program at the Department of Health.

JoyRyde

Contact: Terry Goguen, Cell (781) 296-6853, terry.goguen@joyryde.co

JoyRyde is a reward-based mobile application that prevents people from using their mobile devices while driving. The app keeps track of how far one has traveled without using their phone.  Once JoyRyde is closed, the tracking via GPS discontinues as well. Each user has a bank that stores all of their safe miles driven, which can be accessed to buy digital coupons for an assortment of things, ranging from discounts on food to charitable donations. JoyRyde rewards drivers for doing the right thing. joyryde.co

Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles

Contact: Nancy Andrus, Nancy.Andrus@vermont.gov

The Education and Safety Unit at the Department of Motor Vehicles oversees the Vermont Motorcycle Rider Education Program (VREP), oversees and enforces the rules and regulations affiliated with public and private school bus pupil transportation and safety, diminished driver skills training, fraudulent document training for DMV staff, and oversees the licensing and regulation for all of Vermont’s private driver education and commercial vehicle driver education training schools as well as the third party testing program. dmv.vermont.gov

My Decision Driving

Contact: Paul Burroughs, (802) 770-8006, anotherwo@aol.com

My Decision Driving provides specialized driver training to police, fire , EMT, teens, the elderly, and hospitals. My Decision Driving also rents, leases and sells used driving simulators. mydecisiondriving.com

TextLess Live More

Contact: Beth Bingham, bethbingham63@gmail.com

Textless LiveMore (TLLM) is a national student-led nonprofit founded in 2013 with a dual mission:  To raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving in order to save lives and prevent tragic accidents, and to encourage people to use technology in a mindful manner. TLLM is a student-to-student movement, a key driver of its effectiveness, as teens listen to other teens. TLLM works with the administration of schools and community organizations to identify students who can lead this awareness campaign forward. textlesslivemore.org

Local Motion

Contact: Emily Boedecker, Cell (802) 778-0919, emily@localmotion.org

Vermont’s advocate for walking and biking will be demonstrating old and new technology, from the bicycle itself that some claim will celebrate its bicentennial next year, to new technology ideas that include eBikes, LED lights and tools for law enforcement to measure safe passing distance between a bicyclist and a vehicle. New technologies that eliminate distraction and focus the driver’s eyes on the road are critical to keep our roads open for everyone. However, until all vehicles on the road include infallible technology to avoid crashes, Local Motion will also demonstrate safe and defensive riding techniques.

AARP Smart Driver Program

Contact: Douglas Masson, State Coordinator for VT, (802) 644-8310, douglasmasson@myfairpoint.net

The AARP Smart Driver Course, offered by AARP Driver Safety, is the nation’s first and largest refresher course designed specifically for older drivers. For more than 30 years, the classroom courses have taught millions of drivers proven safety strategies so they can continue driving safely for as long as possible.

Central Vermont Driving School

Contact: John Lynch, (802) 496-5251, vtdriving@gmail.com

Presenting student projects representing various drivers ed topics.

Vermont State Police

Contact: John Flannigan, (802) 872-4045, John.Flannigan@vermont.gov

Foundation for a Drug Free World

Contact: Maria Roosevelt, (888) 668-6378, activities@drugfreeworld.org,

The Foundation for a Drug Free World is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that empowers youth and adults with factual information about drugs so they can make informed decisions to live drug free. The Foundation is the largest nongovernmental drug education organization, with distribution of more than 72 million drug awareness printed and audio-visual study aids reaching 200 million people annually. The Foundation makes its materials available for free and distributes them to educators worldwide in 20 languages through drug prevention partnerships (both secular and nonsecular), including agreements with a variety of government agencies and nongovernmental organizations and institutions worldwide. www.drugfreeworld.org