“The Driving Experience” School Utilizes Simulators to Prepare Students on the Spectrum to Get Behind the Wheel
EL DORADO HILLS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES: Virtual Driver Interactive (VDI), the leading provider of simulation-based driver training solutions, has announced that “The Driving Experience” school is reinforcing behind-the-wheel training by providing crucial driving experience for students with special needs using VDI driving simulators. VDI’s simulation-based technology allows “The Driving Experience” school to introduce “real world” obstacles, conditions and distractions to their autistic students in a safe and controlled driving environment.
Lina Kreter, owner of “The Driving Experience” driving school located in Irvine, California, launched her business in 2018 to help new, existing and unsure drivers build confidence in their ability overcoming any apprehension they were working through to achieve driving success. Knowing that we were putting drivers on the road with minimal exposure to scenarios that required better judgement and clear thinking, Lina decided to use VDI simulators to train her clients.
“One population that gravitates toward the simulators are high functioning Autism teens/young adults, teens with ADHD and/or ADD that are on medication, and others that have other learning challenges,” says Kreter. “I have worked with over a dozen clients on the spectrum and many that have gone on to successfully achieve licensure. I have one student that began in January 2021 and crashed each time he came in to do the lessons. He enjoys the skills he has learned and has shown tremendous mastery in learning driving skills on the simulator.”
VDI’s driving simulators provide a realistic, immersive training experience using either portable desktop or full cab simulators. The Driving Essentials program gives students the ability to use hands-on-the-wheel training and handle dangerous driving situations such as hydroplaning and icy/snowy conditions.
The Driving Essentials program is simulation-based driver safety training program that teaches drivers the critical skills essential to safe driving. Sixteen lessons provide extensive instruction and practice including how to combat distracted driving, pre and post assessment drives and real time violation tracking. The state of the art reporting system can track each student’s performance and substantiate the provided certificate of course completion.
“I highly recommend the program and continue to find great satisfaction in receiving text messages from former students sharing that they have their licenses and the appreciation they have for the help they received on the simulator,” said Kreter.
“We are excited to work with driving schools across the nation, providing students of all ages – teens to senior citizens – with the opportunity for unlimited driver training practice,” said Andre Luongo, General Manager of Virtual Driver Interactive. “Our driving simulators mimic the near exact conditions prevalent when driving. The practice they provide not only gives experience but ensures competency when the drivers get behind the wheel.”
