Students were shocked Tuesday morning to find a car in the middle of the commons as current health students were visited by Raymond Hill with the PEERS Foundation to talk about distracted driving with the help of a car simulator.

“Right now, all of you have formed an opinion on distracted driving, my goal in the next 50-55 minutes is to change it,” said Mr. Hill at the start of his presentation. He has been working with this program for just under a year.

The PEERS Foundation travels the country to educate kids on the dangers of distracted driving with sponsorships from State Farm and General Motors.

“I hope to get sent to Hawaii next,” Mr. Hill said.

The PEERS Foundation not only talks about distracted driving, but they give presentations on suicide, substance abuse and education.

The simulation itself is a car called ARDDES, or Augmented Reality Distracted Driving Education Simulator. It is a car with blacked out windows and a VR head set that shows driving through the streets. They first tell you to obey all street signs and try to avoid hitting things. In the simulation they ask you to do several things like take out your phone and try to take a selfie while still driving and maintaining control of the car.

“It was kind of fun just to experience but not super realistic,” said Michael Israbian, sophomore health student. “I already didn’t agree with texting and driving but it was better for hands on learning.”

He hit two trees in his simulation.

“I don’t think people really realize how important distracted driving is,” said health teacher Mrs. Teri Delagrange.

This isn’t the first time the program has come to the school, but the health teachers weren’t able to get them last school year because of scheduling. Lutheran Hospital representatives will also be coming to the school in the next few weeks to talk about accident causes and effects.

For more information and more photos of students in a car in the commons go to peersfoundation.org.