Simulator shows GSU students drunk driving dangers

By Dal Cannady – bio | email

STATESBORO, GA (WTOC) – An SUV with strange goggles and TV monitors sat under the GSU Russell Rotunda.

Students took turns getting behind the wheel and seeing first hand how their vision and response time would erode if they’d been drinking.24908456_BG1

“They (students) think they can handle drinking and driving,” said grad student Brittany Talbott. “But you can’t, and you don’t know what your reaction time is going to be.”

As part of Arrive Alive, students outside the SUV could see them swerving on the video screen and eventually hitting a car or building.

The program travels the country during the Fall and the Spring. Facilitators say Spring is especially dangerous as students go on vacation and drinking is so common.

“When people drink alcohol, their judgement goes down and they do things they wouldn’t do otherwise,” explained Patrick Sheehy of Unite, which oversees the Arrive Alive tour.