London based XPI Simulation has applied its high quality, flight simulator software to a new road safety education product, XP100. Previewed at the Royal Welsh Show in the summer XP100 attracted large crowds due to its incredible realism. The simulator involves car drivers in predicting, observing and responding to potentially dangerous events and it is this involvement that makes XP100 unique.

Alan Davenport, XPI’s marketing director, said “Most accidents happen in the first few years of driving when new drivers learn about driving hazards by experiencing them for the first time. Airline pilots have used simulators for many years to practise handling dangerous situations: Why shouldn’t we benefit from the same safeguards applied to our roads”.

Davenport said “Our objective was to develop a simulator that would engage people’s interest in learning about road safety. Then, having captured the interest, improve the understanding and remembering the lessons. The benefits of an interactive simulator are that it demands 100% attention; it improves learning by actually doing it; and the results are instant. XP100 offers the driver (or trainer) a list of scenarios which vary according the amount of driving skill required. The driver then starts to drive through a town, country or motorway setting according to some simple instructions.

He must respond to hazards by making the correct physical responses in steering and braking and it is this activity that helps users remember the lessons for longer. XPI is working closely with the road safety officers from a number of local authorities to extend and fine-tune the scenarios, which replicate the most common and most dangerous situations.

Davenport said “XP100 has proved to be so popular that we now have a long list of additional hazards to implement, particularly those involving children, cyclists and speeding drivers. There is also a demand to simulate the effects of using mobile phones and drug/drunk driving”.

-end-