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PrintCOLUMBIA — Columbia police will use a $102,000 driving simulator to help improve their driving skills.
Training on the simulator, which is scheduled to arrive Tuesday, could begin by October. The department says the goals of using the simulator are to decrease auto accidents 20 percent each year for the first two years.
The simulator was bought with federal stimulus money.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that Columbia police were involved in 39 motor vehicle accidents last year. Of those incidents, the Internal Affairs Division concluded officers acted appropriately in 19 crashes; 20 incidents were found to be improper. Year-to-date information was not available for this year.
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So we're going to spend $102K of our grandkids' money to reduce 39 crashes to 25 or so in two years. Is the problem really driving skills or improper incidents, whatever that might mean as mentioned in the article? In other words, is it really a driving/skill problem, engaging in pursuits that should not occur, or something else? This AP piece is sadly lacking in details, something that I unfortunately see quite a bit in our local papers.