Drunk Driving Simulator Helps Show Students Dangerous Driving Situations

The students at John F. Kennedy High School in New York were shown some dangerous driving situations thanks to a drunk driving simulator. Besides the DUI simulator, the students could also experience the dangers of distracted driving and drugged driving.

Drunk driving simulator - dangerous driving situations

Drunk Driving Simulator

The drunk driving simulator was provided by the Arrive Alive Tour and sponsored by the Community Parent Center. These events are organized annually at each of the three high schools in the Bellmore-Merrick Central District. Wendy Tepfer, Director of the CPC, said, “This event offers experiential learning by actually doing it. We want students to think, ‘If I’m in this situation, what would I do?’”

For the simulation, students got behind the wheel of a full-size Jeep Patriot. They put on a pair of virtual reality goggles and the simulation starts. The goggles simulate driving while drunk or high on marijuana, as well as texting while driving. As stated by LIHearald.com, most of the drunk driving simulator attempts ended in crashes. There were infractions given out by the road crew staff of the Arrive Alive Tour, which included for speeding, swerving and vehicular manslaughter. 

Car Crashes Leading Cause Of Death

So, why the need for a drunk driving simulator? It just so happens that car crashes as the leading cause of death among teenagers. Of those deaths, 24% of them involved underage drinking, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. While drinking and driving is dangerous, teens seems to be more distracted behind the wheel than drunk. Those driver distractions, like texting, are responsible for more than 58% of teenager/driver crashes, according to AAA.

While these events are meant to bring awareness to more and more people and students, the Arrive Alive Tour knows getting through to one person is a win also. Tepfer said, “If we save one life, we did our job.”