A Jacksonville trial law firm that specializes in representing people who have been injured in roadway crashes is sponsoring a program intended to reduce the number of people who need the firm’s services.
Coker Law, in partnership with Apex Resource Center, is providing a high-tech driver education opportunity for students at Wolfson High School.
“We live in this community and we want the community to be safer, so we’re teaching young drivers good practices for safe driving,” said Coker Law partner Matthew Posgay.
The law firm is donating an Apex Virtual Vehicle that will be installed in a classroom that already is used for virtual and online learning.
The virtual vehicle — with a driver’s seat, steering wheel, pedals and dashboard gauges along with a panoramic video display — will be used by ninth-grade students at Wolfson who will be applying for a Florida Learner’s License.
An instructor will supervise the course and students also will have access to a self-directed tutorial program.
The virtual vehicle and its training software were developed by former competitive race driver Trish Johnson, who now is a driver safety educator.
“It’s more like a flight simulator for pilot training than a video game. It’s programmed to be like driving a 4,200-pound vehicle,” she said.
Johnson said the technology was developed to bridge the skill gap for young people who legally are able to operate a motor vehicle but haven’t learned the skills needed to be safe behind the wheel.
“There’s not a good place to practice driving. The road isn’t the best learning zone. It’s not where you can make a mistake and not have something horrible happen,” Johnson said.
In the classroom, students will be able to interact with a realistic driving experience, “but their mistakes aren’t going to be tragic or deadly,” she added.
“Our goal is to teach safe driving techniques from the very start in order to prevent tragedies from happening,” Posgay said.
