Ford VIRTTEX Wins Award In NY

* Ford's Virtual Text Track Experiment (VIRTTEX) wins Automobile award at the World Traffic Safety Symposium at the New York International Auto Show. * Ford is the only North American automaker with a full-motion-based driving simulator like VIRTTEX.

NEW YORK, April 1 - Ford Motor Company's VIRTTEX driving simulator has won the top automotive award at the 2005 World Traffic Safety Symposium, held as part of the New York International Auto Show. Anne Stevens, Ford Motor Company group vice president, Canada, Mexico and South America, was on hand in New York City to accept the award today.

"VIRTTEX is a great tool that has enabled Ford Motor Company to create a unique laboratory to study the interaction between car and driver," Stevens said. "It's allowed us to become the industry leader in using simulation to address real world problems in automotive human factors and safety."

For the past 15 years, the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association has worked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to host the World Traffic Safety Symposium during the New York International Auto Show. The symposium is designed to introduce traffic safety programs to the Association's membership; introduce traffic safety advocates from the tri-state area to innovative safety initiatives by automobile manufacturers; recognize and reward individual and organizations for achievements in traffic safety; and provide a forum for all to learn about the latest traffic safety problems, solutions and innovations.

The Ford VIRTTEX simulator opened in Dearborn in 2001 and allows Ford the advantage of conducting safety research in a controlled environment without risking injury to test participants. The VIRTTEX lab sits atop six angled hydraulic pistons and at rest measures 11 feet off the floor. In operation, the dome is raised and can move up to 10 feet to any side and tilt up to 20 degrees. This broad range of motion helps duplicate forces that are experienced while driving. A vehicle is bolted inside the dome, and study participants sit in the driver's seat while a series of color projectors create an illusion of roads and terrain around the vehicle. Because the tasks and environment can be repeated indefinitely - as opposed to the real world - data obtained from VIRTTEX can be used as a basis for scientific conclusions.

In recent years, Ford Motor Company has publicly released data from two major VIRTTEX studies - one on driver distraction and another on the effects of drowsy driving. Ford has shared the results with the traffic safety community and published results in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The information also was used to develop teen driving materials Ford has created and distributed to every public and private high school in the United States as part of its Driving Skills for Life educational program.