Road safety campaign group IAM RoadSmart has teamed up with a top racing driver to produce three new videos highlighting the dangers of being distracted behind the wheel.
Children, mobile phones, and pets are common driver distractions, and in the new videos Aston Martin works sportscar racer Darren Turner attempts to tackle a virtual circuit in a racing simulator while contending with a barking dog, ringing mobile phone and noisy five-year-old child. The former McLaren F1 test driver, who owns Banbury-based company Base Performance Simulators, said: “A professional racing driver is expected to maintain full concentration all the time while at the wheel – but I was surprised at how easy it was take your eye of the ball for a second and end up clouting the barrier in the simulator. Translate that to the real road, and the consequences could be far more serious.”
According to official Department for Transport figures, driver distraction contributed to almost 3,000 road traffic accidents in 2013, while IAM RoadSmart’s Safely Home survey found that the biggest causes of distraction were children in the car, changing the radio channel, back seat drivers and mobile phone use.
To mark the launch of the videos on IAM RoadSmart’s YouTube channel, the organisation is offering a 10% discount on the £149 cost of its Advanced Driver course until the end of September. Bookings can be made by calling 0300 303 1134 quoting the reference RACE10, with purchasers using the discount code being put into a prize draw to win a Base Performance Simulators experience for themselves and a friend.
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