Driver ZED™ a Hit at High-School Traffic Safety Fair

At a mid-November traffic safety fair sponsored by Owings Mills High School in Owings Mills, Maryland, AAA Mid-Atlantic Safety Services Manager Myra Wieman presented some 1,100 students a chance to try the AAA Foundation’s Driver-ZED™ DVD. Offering a small participation prize, Wieman was surprised how many were willing to “try their hand” at the game, which she had projected onto an LCD screen and hooked up to speakers so that multiple students could play at once.

“It was unbelievable how these kids were so into it,” Wieman said. “After playing a driving scenario, students answered questions, usually in groups, and always wanted to try more driving scenarios -- especially if they got the first one wrong.”

Wieman also noticed students were receptive to explanatory videos presented after each driving scenario, with many posing questions and openly discussing their own driving tendencies.
“Not only did Driver-ZED draw them in, it created good questions and answers,” she said. Following the safety fair, a teacher told Wieman many students had discussed the program and how much they enjoyed it.

“It’s so hard to get through to teenagers,” Wieman said. “I really feel the program just may have made a difference.”

Driver-ZED™ is available to purchase on the Foundation Web site, aaafoundation.org, or, for more info and background on ZED visit www.driverzed.org