Media advisory: Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s Sharing the Road team to demo its program for Corps of Cadet students
WHAT: Members of the media are invited to join researchers from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) Sharing the Road team that will be giving its educational demonstration to members of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. Afterward, the institute's educational Peterbilt semi-truck known as “Pete” will be given the rank of cadet sergeant first class during a ceremony conducted with the Corps of Cadets.
This will be the first time the Sharing the Road team gives its educational outreach demonstration to the Corps of Cadets. The plan is for the program to continue into the future with yearly safety instruction to each group of first-year cadets.
As one of seven premier research institutes created by Virginia Tech to answer national challenges, VTTI is continually advancing transportation through innovation and affecting public policy on national and international levels. VTTI is a global leader in transportation safety research with a mission to save lives, time, and money and protect the environment.
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 7, from 11-noon ET
WHERE: Intersection of Turner Street and Old Turner Street on the Virginia Tech campus, behind the Moss Arts Center and near the Virginia Tech Power Plant and the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building
WHO: Interviews for the media will be available with a Virginia Tech Transportation Institute representative and a Corps of Cadets representative.
RSVP: Please email Eric Holbrook (eholbrook@vtti.vt.edu) and Mike Allen (mike.allen@vt.edu) by noon Friday, Dec. 6 if you plan to attend.
BACKGROUND: The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s Sharing the Road team was created to educate young drivers to safely share the road with large trucks. However, all drivers can benefit from reviewing the materials and scenarios on the Sharing the Road website , ensuring that all drivers know how to properly share the road. Since 2017, the team has educated nearly 54,000 students in 395 high school events and 50 community events reaching nearly 65,000 attendees.
Media will be able to experience the training in person, witness the one-of-a-kind ranking ceremony, and climb into the 1995 Peterbilt that was restored and upgraded in Virginia Tech's colors of Chicago maroon and burnt orange both inside and out. Pete has a custom recreation of the Virginia Tech Pylons on the front grill, a special HokieBird hood ornament, a display of all the U.S. military branches on the back of the cab, and fittingly, the Virginia Tech motto Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) on the top of the truck.
Information on our Sharing the Road program: https://cmvroadsharing.org/
