TYLER (KYTX) - Safety and saving tax dollars - that's the goal behind a high speed chase simulator being used by Smith County Sheriff's deputies. CBS 19's Amanda Roberson has more on the simulator and how long it will be in town.
The simulator trailer comes to Smith County for a week every year to help deputies brush up on their high speed driving and stay alert. Smith County uses it because there isn't a training track for real units, but the simulator proves to be just as effective.
It isn't the typical racing arcade game. Smith County Chief Deputy Bobby Garmon's been on a number of high speed chases, but even he's reminded of some safe driving skills. "Your adrenaline gets going, you don't know when the guy stops what's going to take place, but as your pursuing him, you got to worry about him, you got to worry about the public, you got to worry about the traffic in front of you, the side streets."
"We kill and injure more officers every with driving than we do with gun fire, but yet we have hardly any driving classes," explained Don Courtney. He's a simulator training specialist.
From snow to dust, a tire blowing out to a person j-walking in front of you, he can simulate any possible situation. "Have an accident in the simulator, you always remember that. Whether it was cutting a corner, going too close to a building and another car came out, those are the kinds of things you remember."
Remembering the accident, without the cost of cleanup and fixing a real patrol unit.
A little good news for taxpayers - the expense of the simulation is covered by the county's insurance plan. Simulator wrecks also mean no physical damage for vehicles or people.
Drivers who get caught in the middle of a chase accidentally need to pull over to the right side of the road as quickly and safely as possible. Chief Garmon said a lot of people stop in the middle of the road when the sirens go off and he said that's the worst place to be because it can cause more collisions.
As for deputies in Gregg County, we're told they use a live track in Kilgore for driving training.
