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Save a life offers reality check

  • Published
  • By Pascual Flores
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Servicemembers from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst received a reality check on the hazards and dangers of drinking and driving at a demonstration conducted by the Save a Life Tour at the Timmermann Center Oct. 12-13.

The event was hosted by the Alcohol & Substance Abuse Program here as a community effort to reduce alcohol-related driving offenses, according to Dr. Denise Horton, Army Substance Abuse Program alcohol and drug control officer.

A video depicting real-life tragedies was shown at the beginning of the Save-a-Life briefing before attendees had the opportunity to sit in a drunk-driving simulator, which attempts to replicate the sensation of being intoxicated behind the wheel.

"The simulator operates on 11 different levels," said Sidney Walker, Safe a Life technician. "A level one is equivalent to being sober and a level eleven equals a .34 or higher blood alcohol concentrate level."

Using the simulator, participants sit behind the wheel of a mock, yet realistic, car interior comprised of three monitors and attempt to navigate through 85 miles of simulated roads filled with traffic signs,
lights and other vehicles that drivers have to safely interact with in real life.

To imitate driving under the influence of alcohol, the simulators' program is designed to control the reactions of the driver.

"We have implemented a delayed reaction to the steering wheel, gas pedal and brakes, the three major components it takes to operate a motor vehicle, to simulate impaired driving under the influence," said Walker.

In addition to these built-in delays, drivers had to pay attention to the simulator's intersection scenarios, which included aggressive drivers who ignore stops signs, yield signs, red lights and the occasional driver who cuts you off as you drive.

These delays often force drivers to overcompensate at the steering wheel and pedals, leading to more out of control behavior from the vehicle.

"The training they provided here this afternoon is an eye-opener," said Army Master Sgt. Kenneth Ashley, Arrival and Departure Airfield Control Group NCO in charge. "Everybody could benefit from this program, it impacts everyone whether you're the passenger or the driver."

By the way, Ashley crashed his "vehicle" and ended up with a mock ticket.
Valued at $2.4 million, the Save a Life tours, state of the art driving simulator is the only simulator in the nation giving participants a completely realistic, sober perspective on the effects of driving while intoxicated.

The Save a Life tour simulator will be available at the Timmermann Center Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information, call 754-4280.