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SALT seasons joint base members with drunk-driving knowledge

  • Published
  • By Airman Tara A. Williamson
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Several hundred service members attended the Save A Life Tour presentation May 17, 2013, at the Timmermann Center here.

The tour's focus is informing audiences of the dangers of drunk driving.

The upcoming four-day Memorial Day weekend and the recent push from the National Transportation Safety Board to lower the legal alcohol limit to .05 from .08 made Denise Horton think about service member safety. Horton is the Dix Army Substance Abuse Program drug and alcohol control officer.

The team of two, Anthony Lawrence, SALT road crew member, and Andrew Tipton, SALT manager, had the simulator and displays set up for service members to learn from.

"(The simulator is) three flat-screen monitors mounted to the inside of a vehicle with all the gauges and all the lights and turn signals," said Lawrence. "It looks like you're sitting in the front seat of a car."

A person sits in the simulated vehicle and "begins" driving around. Delays have been put in the steering wheel, the gas pedal and the brake pedal to give the experience of driving intoxicated. The intent is to replicate the body's delayed reaction it develops following alcohol comsumption.

"In other words, you're a sober person driving an intoxicated car," Lawrence said. "Instead of you personally having that delay, we put it in the vehicle so you can see from a sober standpoint how your brain solves that problem of the delayed reaction after drinking without any of the dangers of being behind the wheel of an actual car."

An eye-catching casket, adorned with a "reserved for the next drunk-driving victim" sign to catch the attention of those in the halls, was set up outside the room to lend impact to the seriousness of the presentation.

Another set of tools the SALT team set up were two videos illustrating accidents and what could possibly happen to someone involved in an alcohol-related crash, as well as scenes of loved ones and drunk drivers responsible for deaths or injuries of their victims.

"Every soldier who has come through our treatment program who's had a DWI says two things to me," Horton said. "They say, 'I was within 10 miles of being home' and 'I didn't think I was drunk.' One of the really important things that people don't understand is alcohol is a drug. It does affect the brain with the first drink."

Both Tipton and Lawrence have seen what can happen when alcohol is paired with driving. Neither engage in alcoholic beverages because of personal values.

"(I've had) friends close to me who have been in alcohol-related accidents," Lawrence said. "It hits home to me when I go and talk to people about the dangers of it because I've seen those dangersfirst-hand, multiple times."

Lawrence also said he enjoys coming to military installations to "help the people who protect and serve us every day."

Visit SaveALifeTour.com for more information on the Save a Life Tour.