Mansfield High Students May have Distractology Simulator Lessons this March

The Mansfield School Committee heard from Ben Cavallo and Keith Signoriello of Cavallo and Signoriello Insurance on Tuesday about Arbella Insurance's new program "Distractology." 

Mansfield High School principal Michael Connolly said that, while scheduling may be an issue, he is very interested in the project.

"We're looking into it," he said. "Franklin had it, and so did Rochester… and all the feedback was positive. The one thing they said was challenging was... access."

The program focuses on early drivers, mainly those who have been driving for a maximum of three years. 

The first part of the program puts students in a 45 minute driving simulator, located in an Arbella Insurance trailer, that would push the limits of driving distractions.

“The idea is to have students in the local high schools to take classes in these [trailers],” Cavallo said. “[The students] try to learn the dangers and what happens when drive and text, or what happens when you’re driving with people yelling in the back seat or singing. They play video games, essentially, to learn what happens.”

The program lasts a week, and could accommodate 80 students in that time at 16 students a day. The second part of the program is an online test. Students will receive a $15 gas card for the first part, and if they participate in the second they will receive a six percent discount for three years on their car insurance if they go with Arbella.

If Mansfield decided to have the program, it would cost the school system nothing aside from the parking spots the van and trailer would require for the week. Cavallo and Signoriello would cover the costs of the program and Arbella Insurance would provide the van and trailer.

“To me it seems like a program that costs us nothing,” school committee chair Michael Trowbridge said. “And maybe if we can get 80 kids’ attention [and they say] ‘Geez I just came out of the simulator, you wouldn’t believe what happened.’”

Conolly said that, this late in the school year, scheduling will be a problem if the program was to go through, but he and other administrators are working on it.