Drunk Driving Simulator: Driving Dangers Shown At PBSC

The dangers of driving intoxicated were recently shown at Palm Beach State College, as the Arrive Alive Tour brought their drunk driving simulator. This stop was at the Loxahatchee Groves campus and the Town-Crier attended the event.

Drunk Driving Statistics

To give you a better understanding of the event and concerns, let’s look at some statistics for drinking and driving. Every day, 29 people are killed in the United States from alcohol-related vehicle crashes. In 2016, 10,497 deaths from alcohol impaired crashes. Someone is injured in a drunk driving accident every two minutes. For teenagers, car crashes are the #1 leading cause of death. Of those car crashes, 1 in 4 involved an underage drunk driver.

Drunk Driving Simulator

For the drunk driving simulator, the Arrive Alive Tour brought a full-size Jeep Patriot to the Loxahatchee Groves campus. Kent Tiedman and Mallory McKenzie, road crew facilitators, use the high-tech simulator, virtual reality goggles and an impact video to help spread the message of the dangers of drinking while driving. Tiedman said that about 1 million drivers are arrested annually for driving under the influence or while intoxicated.

The Aftermath

At the time of the visit by the Town-Crier, Tiedman had estimated that at least 40 students had gone through the drunk driving simulator. All of the students doing the simulation had failed! One of the students taking part in the simulator was Jessica Sorensen, a student at the Loxahatchee Groves campus and an intern at the Town-Crier. She said, “I simulated texting while driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence of marijuana. All three cases were disorienting and created a slow reaction time. It was difficult to judge my speed and the distance of objects from me. I ultimately ended up crashing in all three simulations.”

You can check out the full coverage from the Town-Crier here!