Schools
Watch It: Seneca Valley Students Get a (Virtual) DUI
Teen drivers get first-hand experience of how alcohol impairs the ability to steer and brake with the Pennsylvania DUI Association's SAFETY SIMulator.
Sitting behind the steering wheel, Seneca Valley student Ashley Harris swerves off the road, nearly getting hit by an oncoming tractor-trailer truck.
“I can’t control this thing,” she yells as she tries to slam on the brakes.
Once she manages to get back on the asphalt, Ashley continues to have trouble staying in her lane—then she slams into the back of a mini-van.
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When the windshield on the screen cracks up realistically in front of her, Ashley lets out a yelp.
As her fellow student, Melissa Lutz, puts it, the experience is scary—big time.
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“It opens your eyes to what really could happen,” she said.
Melissa and Ashley were two of more than 100 students who participated Friday, March 22 in the Pennsylvania DUI Association’s SAFETY SIMulator at the Seneca Valley secondary campus in Jackson Township.
Featuring a real dashboard, steering wheel and a driver’s seat, the simulator uses high-definition video scenes and gaming technology to create unique situations that may be too dangerous to experience while driving a real automobile.
It focuses exclusively on distracted and impaired driving, allowing students to see the consequences of both.
Seneca Valley’s Students Against Destructive Decisions sponsored the simulator program as a precursor to prom, which takes place May 10.
SADD sponsor Ashley Zaso said Seneca Valley senior to bring the program to the district.
Originally, the DUI Association also planned to have students with licenses drive the Safety Bug, a custom engineered Volkswagen that allows teens to experience what it would be drive while under the influence, but that program was nixed because of Friday’s snowy weather.
The SAFETY SIMulator was set up in a parking lot outside the high school.
Students who participated in it said the simulator provided them with a valuable experience—one that would stop them from ever getting in the car with anyone who has had a few drinks.
“I just though it was really difficult,” Melissa said. “Your reaction time is so much different.”
How did Seneca Valley student fare driving the SAFETY SIMulator? Click on the video for their reaction.
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