Tewksbury police complete driving simulator course

The Town of Tewksbury will see a reduction in property and casualty insurance costs following a driving safety course taken by 40 police officers, held November 4-8 at the local Police Department. The Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA), the town’s property and casualty insurance provider, offered the training free of charge as a membership benefit. Upon completion of this and other MIIA training programs, the municipality is eligible to receive insurance premium credits through the MIIA Rewards Program.

Contained in a 30-foot mobile trailer, the state-of-the-art, computer-driven simulator realistically replicates more than 150 driving conditions that operators of police cruisers, fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles may encounter, including snow, rain, fog and darkness. In addition, the course includes one-on-one training on emergency procedures and safe driving techniques. According to MIIA’s statistics, accident frequency and costs drop an average of 10 to 25 percent following participation in the driving safety course.

“I am extremely appreciative of the on-site simulator training program MIIA provided at no expense to the members of my Department,” said Tewksbury Police Chief Timothy B. Sheehan. “Our number one priority is and will always be sending our officers home safely to their families at the end of every shift and this training has contributed significantly to that mission.”

MIIA is the non-profit, member-based insurance arm of the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) insuring nearly 400 cities, towns, and other public entities in the state. As of fiscal year 2013, more than 8,000 city and town employees participated in nearly 400 MIIA-sponsored trainings and technical and management seminars offered throughout the state. Member municipalities' efforts yielded more than $2.5 million of premium credit collectively through the MIIA Rewards incentive program in FY`12 for a 11-year total of over $19.8 million. For more information please visit www.emiia.org and www.mma.org.