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Distracted Driving Simulator Coming to Notre Dame

Notre Dame Academy will host the McSweeney & Ricci Insurance Agency's Distractology 101 tour next week.

A 36-foot-long mobile classroom will set up outside Notre Dame Academy next week, outfitted with high-tech driving simulators designed to give new drivers the chance to experience the perils of distracted driving, including texting while driving.


More than 3,000 people are killed each year in crashes involving a distracted driver and an estimated additional 416,000 are injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver, according to a press release from McSweeney & Ricci Insurance Agency, which will host the interactive Distractology 101 program developed by the Arbella Insurance Foundation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field at 55 mph, blind.

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“Distracted driving is a widespread epidemic among young drivers that continues to worsen, particularly as mobile devices become more prevalent, more advanced and more addictive,” said John Donohue, chairman, president and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group, and chairman and president of the Arbella Insurance Foundation.

The Distractology driving simulator, based on Arbella-funded research conducted with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMASS), has traveled to various communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island during 2013, offering 45 minutes of simulated distracted driving to each participant. 

To date nearly 4,000 new drivers, meaning those that have been licensed less than three years or have a learner’s permit have completed the Distractology 101 training, according to the release. In 2012, 97% percent of students surveyed said the experience was effective or extremely effective and 82% said they would recommend the experience to a friend.

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“In just three years Arbella’s Distractology 101 campaign has made enormous strides in terms of combating distracted driving,” said Mary Lou Ricci, President of McSweeney & Ricci Insurance Agency. “The program’s mission is quite simple: to educate young drivers of the dangers of distracted driving and ultimately save the lives of teens."


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