The virtual reality experience to support young driver education.
The Vision Van is a dedicated resource aimed at educating drivers, particularly young drivers, on the biggest risk factors associated with driving – using a mobile phone, speeding, drink and drug driving and not wearing a seat belt.
This experience is designed to ensure drivers understand the risks to themselves and others and aims to teach drivers how to minimise the chance of having a collision, which could cause serious injury or death.
At the start of the experience a safety brief will be provided, and a short evaluation is required after to understand what lessons have been learned by the users.
Using dedicated hydraulic chairs and virtual reality (VR) headsets inside the van, Vision immerses users in a real-world scenario giving a fantastic experiential learning experience. During each session various scenarios are used to educate drivers on the impact their actions and decisions have, not only on themselves but on the wider public. It will give an insight into the risks associated with careless driving including using a mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt, distractions and speeding.
Following the experience, a short discussion takes place to discuss why the collision happened, what choices they would make now to avoid the crash, and what they have learned from the experience. The aim of this learning process is to educated people to make better choices and become safer drivers, ultimately to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in collisions.
The Films
Vision has six films used through the virtual reality headsets:
VF4-360
The first 360 road safety film was made in 2016 and is now being used globally. It shows four students driving inappropriately, speeding, not wearing seatbelts, and using a mobile phone - all leading to a tragic collision. You will experience this through the eyes of the passenger in the most immersive learning experience.
Alternative Ending
Following on from the VF4-360 film, the driver makes the right choices. He stops the vehicle and takes the phone away from the passenger who put it in front of him while driving. He makes everyone wear their seatbelt. He drives sensibly, avoiding a crash and arrives safely at the party venue.
90 Second Life Saver: Pedestrian
The first of a series of three films shows a distraction of someone walking along a road and walking out in front of a car causing a collision. We then rewind and run through it again. This time the pedestrian is talking through what you should do to stay safe.
90 Second Life Saver: Push Bike
Second in the series shows the danger of not wearing Hi-Viz. Blending into the background and not being aware of approaching vehicles at junctions - this film is essential for bike riders and car drivers. Seen from both perspectives, using the rewind effect, which highlights and corrects the mistakes and bad habits.
90 Second Life Saver: Motorbike
Third and last in the series, this film looks at not wearing correct personnel protective riding gear (PPE), witnessing the graphic after-effects of crashing a motorbike with no PPE. Rewind the scenario, but with the rider wearing correct biker gear and the injuries are less serious. Finally, watching it through the eyes of the driver, how easy it is to miss a bike when looking to pull out.
British Horse Society
Something completely different, is a mix of 360 film and 2D film on how to pass a horse and rider out on the roads. Some shocking overtaking manoeuvres by cars and lorries will make you hold your breath. With a commentated drive past a horse and rider explaining the do’s and don’ts.
The project has been funded jointly by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and BFRS after a successful bid for funding to create an experience to engage young drivers with the aim of making the roads of Bedfordshire a safer place.
The initial concept came from a similar project run by Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service where they had created a mobile VR experience to use across the county. Through consulting with young people and stakeholders in the Bedfordshire Road Safety Partnership, the Vision concept was created.
The Van
The vision for the road safety vehicle was to create a safe internal environment for motion platforms seats. Delta Kinetics, the design and manufacturer of the virtual reality solution, came up with a couple of designs and the one that supported our needs the best was to have four seats in line allowing full range of movement with the motion platforms and to also allow the use the front and side door. This enables a natural airflow to keep the area cool in the summer, as well as enabling a natural entrance and exit to capture what impact the educational experience had on the user.
The main focus was to design and build something to appeal to younger people and the external design adopted is one chosen by BFRS fire cadets.
If you are interested in booking Vision for a road safety engagement event, please contact: Roadsafety@Bedsfire.gov.uk
