Parego Virtual Driving School: Fully on Course for Environment, Driving Practice, and Finances

It's impossible to go completely without analog elements: The first thing you notice upon entering the "virtual driving school" Parego in a commercial block in the north of Munich is the huge whiteboard in the reception area, covered in schedules, appointments, notes, and small drawings. René Gottmeier laughs: "Some things are best captured analog and at a glance," he explains. And he voluntarily points to the second analog unit on the walls: A calendar adorned with colorful Post-its representing the class schedule.

Everything at a glance, as Gottmeier puts it. However, he then seamlessly transitions into the otherwise quite digital part and the core element of his "driving school of the future." He founded it after eight months of preparation. He almost called off his startup plans because the "search for accommodation," meaning finding a suitable property for the purpose in the crazy Munich real estate market, proved to be extremely challenging.

Through a real estate agent and on the second attempt, a contact was made, interestingly enough, with HUSS-VERLAG, in whose adjacent building a perfectly suitable space was for rent. Of course, first, two large training rooms, a break room, and the darkened simulator chamber had to be set up. But once the construction matters were settled, driving instructor René Gottmeier and his team moved in overjoyed and full of enthusiasm. Gottmeier had worked for years at the nationwide driving school chain Warschun/Lewa. He is particularly supported by Patricia Gottmeier, a graduate pedagogue and educational scientist.

Swedish Pioneers

Then he discovered the technology of the Swedish simulator specialist Tenstar, founded in 2009, at a trade fair – and Gottmeier was immediately captivated by the idea of, as a passionate driving instructor, embarking on something new – and supplementing driver training not to revolutionize it but to add a significant and profitable element. Tenstar's maxim: "Our goal is to minimize emissions, increase efficiency, and improve safety during and after the training of machine and vehicle users." This struck a chord with Gottmeier.
 

Fascinated by the Technical Possibilities

With the new technical possibilities offered by the simulator, multiple advantages can be gained: one saves significantly on money, time, wear and tear, resources, and ultimately CO2 emissions in the training of cars, buses, trucks, forklifts, excavators, or construction machinery. "You can't imagine how elaborate it would otherwise be if, for instance, you needed a gravel pit for practice or a bus parking lot for maneuvering," says Gottmeier. An instructor from Parego can also supervise and support multiple driving students or learners if they have undergone appropriate prior training.

It is important for the Gottmeiers to emphasize: a driving instructor is not the same as an instructor and vice versa. Another important piece of information: simulator hours cannot currently be officially recorded as practice hours according to the driver training regulations. However, it is already officially recognized to use simulator hours as a supplement, especially at the beginning of practical driving training to learn basic driving skills, as well as to build driving routines and competencies.

Important Arguments in Favor of the Simulator

These are already significant aspects and arguments "pro simulator". And undoubtedly, many routines can be "realistically" depicted and practiced at the "life-like" recreated cockpit seats on real "motion bases" with air-cushion seats, steering wheels, control levers, and consoles where three front and one rear screen surround the user or optionally, a more realistic VR headset can be used.

We test this with a long-arm excavator, where even the chain feeling during maneuvering is transmitted to the extended backbone. In the forklift exercise, the original control console, including the fork angle gauge, is accompanied by a suitable soundscape from the high-bay warehouse – and you can, like in a video game, frequent the logistics hall with several others and carry out the tasks. Of course, the bus we drive sounds like a bus, you can even finely adjust the mirrors. And the wheel loader we maneuver backward bends just as agilely as it would in real life.

Where Can One Drive a Turntable?

As a truck driver, you can also maneuver a turntable trailer, or a semi-trailer, just like in real life, without having to occupy a spot at the ramp. For the car driving license, everyday situations can be realistically practiced. And clearly, there is a tendency to need fewer of the significantly more expensive real drives, indicates Gottmeier on the sensitive topic of costs. The drive in the simulator costs about half of a real drive, 50 instead of 100 euros. 

Numerous Models Available

You can choose vehicles from countless categories and types, ensuring that the operation and the "look and feel" are always like in the real model later. This way, a routine can be established in the simulator, which saves a lot of stress for learner drivers, argues Gottmeier. Along the prescribed training steps, there is an individually adaptable range of exercises of various difficulty levels and challenges.

For instance, with the forklift, you need to transport a certain number of boxes from the ground into a white field and sort them cleverly so that they all fit into the designated space in the warehouse. There are also "blue light" trainings for emergency personnel, where you can simulate real-life stressful situations such as entering a busy intersection with blue lights — and you never know how the other road users will react.

Social Aspects: Reducing Stress Factors

He points to another, social aspect: In real life, the close relationship between driving instructor and learner can represent a stress factor, but this can be completely bypassed in the simulator. Additionally, the convinced public transport user Gottmeier points to the constant traffic jam situation in real street traffic, which begins right in front of the location at the notorious Frankfurter Ring and has now become difficult throughout the entire Munich city area almost at any time of the day if you want to gain real driving experience. A driving lesson in a traffic jam can be quickly spent without really learning anything, argues Patricia Gottmeier, who, as an educator, emphasizes the didactic advantages of training in the simulator.

The exchange between driving instructors and learners is still important: Simply sitting in the corner and being left to oneself is not the strategy of the Gottmeiers. Direct and rapid feedback is the maxim. Only with the human component can the potential of the machine be fully harnessed, the Gottmeiers are convinced. Apart from the motivation that is always greater through human interaction than just working through exercises alone.

Human and Machine in Interaction

The Parego creators also pursue the human-machine maxim in group trainings in larger training rooms, where situations can be analyzed again on recorded video and discussed in the group. Anyway, each learner receives a detailed digital evaluation report with numerous statistics and graphs for each unit.

Speaking of groups: A complete unit of the volunteer fire department from the Dachau region will soon come for blue light training, then including legal aspects of the operations, for which the Gottmeiers will bring a traffic law attorney on board. Gottmeier’s goal: Certification of the blue light courses by the German Traffic Safety Council.

From Couriers to Truck Drivers

And recently, a whole group from Deutsche Post DHL was there to thank Gottmeier: With the help of the simulator training, couriers had become truck drivers. "It feels incredibly good when you get such feedback," admits the passionate driving instructor, who is also already in contact with Munich's MVG. Another pillar is the professional driver training BKF within the framework of EU regulations, where part of the accelerated initial qualification and the so-called five modules can be completed virtually.

In any case, training in the ubiquitously spreading driver shortage can be accelerated with the simulator school. Or channeled: Because thanks to the simulator training and many years of professional experience as a driving instructor, Gottmeier can also carry out a competency assessment so that companies can avoid misguided investments in potentially unsuitable driving personnel.