It can happen in an instant.

One moment, you’re driving along a road, and the next, you have to swerve to avoid a dangerous situation.

Or maybe the road conditions are not ideal and your car spins out.

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It’s best to be prepared in those situations, and that was the emphasis the Seymour Police Department made Monday during its fifth Rule the Road event at Freeman Municipal Airport.

The event, a partnership between the department and Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, allowed 31 Seymour High School students to have the opportunity to experience a number of scenarios that might come up while driving.

It aims to supplement what students learn in driver’s education or what their parents teach them with hands-on experience in a controlled environment.

The teens drove Seymour police cruisers accompanied by officers to experience an off-road scenario, spinning out, hydroplaning, learned evasive skills and more.

“This is a controlled environment, and you don’t want the first time to experience these things to be on Tipton Street,” said Seymour Capt. Carl Lamb, who helps organize the event. “The main thing is they get to do it firsthand, and it’s teaching them something that no one else has taught them, and this is unlike any other program.”

Sixteen officers helped with the event to help students and ensure safety at the stations, Lamb said.

“We don’t go faster than we should be in any scenario,” he said. “Plus, they have an instructor with them all the time.”

Conditions Monday were cool and rainy, which added a different element to the exercises, Lamb said. In fact, the conditions made the event even better.

“If it snowed, then we’d be out here, as well,” he said. “It just shows them a different element that you have to drive a little differently, and you can’t always go the speed limit. The weather dictates how you drive.”

Lamb said it’s his belief the event is behind a reduction in accidents involving teen drivers since 2014, the first year the program was offered.

In 2014, there were 127 accidents reported to Seymour police involving teen drivers, according to data provided by the department. By 2017, the number had fallen to a dozen.

“It shows that it’s working, and we’re going to continue to do it because it’s making a difference,” Lamb said.

New this year was a distracted driving simulator and a semitrailer demonstration that showed blind spots. There also was a seat belt challenge.

The simulator took users through multiple scenarios in the car.

Ryan Elmore, a sophomore with his learner’s permit, took part in a scenario on a highway in the country.

Multiple vehicles turned in front of him, and tractors were slowly being driven on the road, all while his group was encouraged to distract him any way they could.

Friends were calling Elmore’s cellphone, being loud and even tickling him. Soon after friends began tickling him, Elmore crashed.

“I can zone everything else out, but that was the worst,” he said.

Elmore’s classmate, Mallory Moore, who also has her learner’s permit, was a part of the exercise and said teen drivers are distracted by a number of things. She said cellphones, music, friends and eating all play a role in distracted driving.

“Teenagers are still a little immature and have a lot to learn,” she said.

Lamb said the simulator was important because it showed how quickly things can change when people are being loud or your phone is going off.

The other stations showed best practices, he said, and the students were attentive to the exercises.

The road course allowed students to drive about 40 miles per hour and learn evasive techniques.

The skid car exercise helps students learn to control their vehicle if it spins out. That helps students understand how easy it can happen and how to control the situation, Lamb said.

The evasive technique pairs students with an officer and has them drive down a strip toward three cones.

“You can learn how to avoid an accident by steering out of the way of it because sometimes, hitting your brakes isn’t the best,” Lamb said.

Moore and Elmore both said they liked the road course.

“The road course was my favorite because it was the most driving and real life,” Elmore said.

The seat belt challenge was where four students are in a car and timed on how quickly they can trade places and still put on their seat belts.

The idea is to show teenagers how little time it takes to fasten their seat belt, meaning there is no excuse not to do it.

“It shows them that even if they’re in a hurry, they can buckle their belt,” Lamb said.

There also were fatal vision goggles where students drove an all-terrain Razor vehicle.

“That simulates different blood alcohol contents,” Lamb said. “It teaches them that when you’re impaired, judgment is the first thing to go.”

For Moore and Elmore, they said each of the courses offered something beneficial before they reach the milestone of getting their license.

“Each of them taught us something different about the road and what to do in situations,” Elmore said.

Moore said she feels more prepared.

“Anything can happen, and you can be at the wrong place at the wrong time, but you have to prepare and stay calm,” she said.