Game Over: Students get a CRASH-course in safe driving during National Teen Driver Safety Week

     “Answer the phone! Answer the phone!” Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officer Eran Hammock claps and yells distracting students during a driving simulation program. What does “game over” mean to you? During National Teen Driver Safety Week, many students in high schools across Gwinnett gained a lesson in safe driving and an understanding of the meaning of “game over.”

     The Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrived at Mountain View High School with a truck-tractor and custom trailer housing simulators that include gaming steering wheels, foot pedals, and realistic graphics that bring users into real-world driving scenarios.

     “A lot of students are shocked once I explain to them that what’s happening is a real scenario,” says Officer Hammock. “I say, better [an accident] happens here than out there, because out there, if you get in an accident, you might not make it, but in here, you learn from your mistakes.”

   This learning experience moves into the gym where students then get to drive a marked course in pedal cars. It seems easy enough, until they finish the first lap and are handed “Fatal Vision®” impairment goggles.

     “This ‘drunk simulator’ is very accurate, it’s very difficult to see because it skews your vision and it’s hard to drive a car,” says Mountain View High School Resource Officer (SRO) Chris Robinson. “Kids love [the experience], it’s exciting, and it’s scary, too. It gets them to the point of, ‘oh wow, this is real.’”

These goggles simulate the behaviors of drivers impaired by alcohol or other substances at different Blood Alcohol Content (B.A.C.) levels. The googles start at a B.A.C. < .06, where impairment begins, and go all the way up to a B.A.C. of .25+, a level considered “legally intoxicated,” that also comes with criminal penalties and the danger of “game over.”

“It was fun and educational, and I’m never ever gonna drink and drive,” says Henry, a Mountain View High freshman.

“Honestly, I could barely see anything, it was a complete blur. So, no drinking and driving,” adds senior Amalia.