University simulator is meant to find what drives us to distraction

It?s easily the most expensive Ford Fusion on the highway today.Except it?s not on the highway. It?s parked in a carpeted room in the Mechanical Engineering building on the UW-Madison campus in front of a 24-foot wrap-around screen. The vehicle is part of the university?s new $500,000 driving simulator and will allow researchers to study everything from driver distractions such as cell phones to the safety of highway exit and entrance ramps.