Wakefield High School held its annual Prom Promise anti-drunk-driving event today, but it was a bit different than years past.
Instead of a large indoor assembly with PowerPoint slides, a speaker and staged demonstrations, the police department decided to take things outside. Groups of students lined up to try their hand at driving golf carts around a cone course while wearing “drunk goggles.”
“This year I wanted to do something that’s more interactive, where all the kids get to participate,” said Cpl. Kyle Anderson, who helped to organize the event.
With the goggles simulating the distorted sense of reality and slowed reaction time of 3-5 drinks, students invariably found themselves driving slower than usual and, often, veering well off-course.
“It’s not to train them how to drive drunk,” Anderson said. “It’s to give them an idea just how bad they drive when they have a drink.”
Anderson said prom promise is held this time of year because teens are “statistically more likely to get into DUI situation” around prom and graduation season. Golf carts for the simulation were donated by Army Navy Country Club.
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So jelly right now!
It would have been much more fun if they’d have worn beer goggles. The ladies would have looked much better too.
they probably drive better drunk than normally when they are texting every 5 seconds.
ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGG!!!! +100
Also, the picture of them using the floor jack to try to get the traffic cone dislodged from the golf cart while the sad-faced teen looks on is PRICELESS.
Suffice it to say, there are plenty of drunk drivers who are better than sober ones.
With this training, you will have a few more! LOL
When you are drunk at least you have distorted vision on the road. When texting, you are not even looking at the road.
Congratulations Cpl Kyle!
This is a great idea! Should be incorporated into all driver’s ed classes. Could be expanded to driving while texting.
Fact: you know why so many drunk drivers get in wrecks? Because they don’t learn how to drive drunk.
Oh, for goodness sake, driving around one obstacle course does not equal “learning how to drive drunk.” You’re taking a good idea that is probably showing a lot of kids the truth about driving while intoxicated and perverting it into some silly, exaggerated scenario.
Yeah, but how many opportunities does a high school student have to have any positive, sustained and meaningful interaction with a police officer? That by itself is probably the biggest benefit of the activity.
Excellent attempt to educate! Thanks to Cpl Kyle Anderson and the Army Navy Country Club. Now, if only kids could learn that in addition to alcohol’s power on our abilities, the same can come from distractions. If you forgot an appointment and set out to get there in less time than is possible, you become an inadequate driver. Distractions of all kinds affect our driving skills.
Where can I get some of those “drunk goggels?” I think they might be useful on some of my dates.
The film on the inside of your beer glass is the secret.
Works for women too.
So why don’t they just let teens wear drunk goggles instead of drinking? That way, they can get the same effect as being drunk, but when it’s time to drive home they can take them off.
Great idea. It would cut down on the urination in public too.