Students drink and drive and die-in a simulator
Cassandra Cunningham
Issue date: 11/5/08 Section: News
[Editor's note: the first name in the article has been changed at the student's request]
Before Drake, a student at Parkland, made it home from school, he died.
The cause: drunk driving in the Gallery Lounge in the middle of campus.
But Drake wasn't really driving, he was using a simulator provided by a company called Peer that simulates drinking and driving in an attempt to show people what the experience is really like, or at least as close as possible without having a solitary drink.
Facilitators Jeff Lukaart and Zach Bagalay started their presentation by carefully driving a Chevrolet Cobalt into the middle of the Gallery Lounge. How does the simulator work? The driver wears a head-mounted display that has a computer-generated screen that displays a virtual reality highway. There are also sensors attached to the car, which sends data to the software and emulates real road conditions. The driver's age, gender, body type and amount of drinks consumed are entered into the system and the driver then tries to make the four minute journey home while under the influence of alcohol.
Drivers who completed the course were told at the end how many traffic violations, tickets and injuries they had. Others weren't so lucky. Just as it can happen in real life, many died.
"We just want to prevent people from drinking and driving," said facilitator Jeff Lukaart.
"People need to realize it's not smart to drink and drive. It's a lot cheaper and smarter to just call," he said.
The simulator seemed to have impact on a number of students who tried it out. Drake knew first-hand what it was like to drink and drive before he even got into the simulator.
"I have drank and driven. I think it's a dangerous activity and I should not have done it," he said.
Lukaart says that he definitely sees the impact it has on the students who try it out.
"It hits kids hard. I've heard many comments about how hard it hits and how it changes their whole view on drinking and driving. It's as realistic as you can get without actually drinking and driving," said Lukaart.
Before Drake, a student at Parkland, made it home from school, he died.
The cause: drunk driving in the Gallery Lounge in the middle of campus.
But Drake wasn't really driving, he was using a simulator provided by a company called Peer that simulates drinking and driving in an attempt to show people what the experience is really like, or at least as close as possible without having a solitary drink.
Facilitators Jeff Lukaart and Zach Bagalay started their presentation by carefully driving a Chevrolet Cobalt into the middle of the Gallery Lounge. How does the simulator work? The driver wears a head-mounted display that has a computer-generated screen that displays a virtual reality highway. There are also sensors attached to the car, which sends data to the software and emulates real road conditions. The driver's age, gender, body type and amount of drinks consumed are entered into the system and the driver then tries to make the four minute journey home while under the influence of alcohol.
Drivers who completed the course were told at the end how many traffic violations, tickets and injuries they had. Others weren't so lucky. Just as it can happen in real life, many died.
"We just want to prevent people from drinking and driving," said facilitator Jeff Lukaart.
"People need to realize it's not smart to drink and drive. It's a lot cheaper and smarter to just call," he said.
The simulator seemed to have impact on a number of students who tried it out. Drake knew first-hand what it was like to drink and drive before he even got into the simulator.
"I have drank and driven. I think it's a dangerous activity and I should not have done it," he said.
Lukaart says that he definitely sees the impact it has on the students who try it out.
"It hits kids hard. I've heard many comments about how hard it hits and how it changes their whole view on drinking and driving. It's as realistic as you can get without actually drinking and driving," said Lukaart.
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