High school students given sobering lessons

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998 | 11:27 a.m.

Boulder City High School students learned first-hand how drinking can affect driving Monday.

They weren't allowed to imbibe then get behind the wheel. Rather, the Neon Drunk Driving Simulator made an appearance at their campus.

The specially equipped Dodge Plymouth Neon was programmed with each student's weight and hypothetical number of drinks. Based on that information, it produced delayed steering and braking responses, similar to the slowed responses of a drunk driver.

Students with driver's licenses drove the car through an obstacle course set up in the school's parking lot while their friends rode in the back seat.

"You have no control whatsoever," said 11th-grader Dallas Scheeler who ran over several cones and nearly hit the pop-up pedestrian placed alongside the obstacle course.

The simulator, introduced in 1988 by the Chrysler Corp. to enable sober drivers to experience the dangers of drunk driving, has made nearly 3,000 appearances in more than 200 cities. It visits 160 high schools a year.

"With some kids it will have an impact. With some it won't," said physical education teacher Bob Northridge. "You would have to hope so. To some kids it's a big joke."

The cones represent curbside mail boxes and guard rails, Larry Miller, Chyrsler's instructor for the simulator, explained. The students do one "sober" lap on the course. Then the instructor, who sits in the passenger seat, programs the simulator.

"A lot of them think they're invincible. The second lap lets them know that they're not," Miller said. "That could have been a real pedestrian. This could have been their life they just lost."

"Most kids are surprised and shocked," said Gerry Dolhancryk, Chrysler program instructor. "It also shows passengers that it's stupid to get in the back of a car like that."

"People who don't have a drop of alcohol in their life are affected by drunk driving," Dolhancryk said. Two out of five people are injured in an alcohol-related crash each year.

Along with giving the students the first-hand experience, the Chrysler instructors passed on some sobering facts: 32 percent of all deaths for people ages 15 to 20 are a result of motor vehicle crashes. Almost two out of five of those fatalities involve alcohol. In 1996, 17,126 died in alcohol-related traffic crashes, an average of one every 30 minutes.

Sandy Heverly, executive director for the Nevada STOP DUI program was on hand to pass out keychains and bumper stickers.

The simulator, part of The Neon Drunk Driving Simulator National High School Tour, is sponsored by Chrysler Corp., Desert/ Chrysler Plymouth and is presented by the Las Vegas STOP DUI group.