U-of-I driving simulator could give clues to Princess Di’s death

The driving simulator at the University of Iowa will be featured in a cable TV program next month to coincide with the sixth anniversary of Princess Diana’s death. A film crew from the Discovery Channel will visit the National Advanced Driving Simulator in Coralville next week. The plan is to put the host of the show “Unsolved History” through a series of tests in the three-ton, 81-million dollar simulator. Then, he’ll do the tests again after a few drinks, and again after a few more drinks, according to the simulator’s Wendy Moorehead.Moorehead says the simulator will not try to replicate the 1997 crash in Paris that killed Princess Diana, nor will they try to prove alcohol caused the wreck. The focus will only be the effect of alcohol on driving ability. Morehead explains why the show’s producers requested to shoot a segment of the program at the U-of-I driving simulator.The simulator won a two-point-nine million dollar grant earlier this year from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to research the influence of alcohol on driver performance and behavior. Diana’s boyfriend and her driver were also killed in the crash and the driver reportedly had a blood-alcohol level three times what’s allowed in France. The show is to air August 20th on Discovery.