Whitman senior Andrew Tremblay at the wheel, learns what driving drunk feels like the safe way...the only way, behind the wheel of a multi-million dollar simulator.
As students across Long Island prepare for proms and graduations, Walt Whitman students have been taking part in several programs that are intended to teach them about the dangers of drunk driving and let them know that they have the power to do something about it. “We want kids to understand that they need to step up and take the keys of a friend who has been drinking, even at the risk of being labeled ‘uncool,’” said Chris Geysbeek, Save a Life Tour manager. “Kids need to know how important it is to be there for their friends.”
The Save a Life Tour is a high-impact alcohol awareness program with three presentation units that travel all over the country. Their multimillion-dollar drinking-and-driving simulators are the only ones in the nation that give participants a completely realistic, sober perspective on the effects of driving while intoxicated.
At the wheel of the simulator, Whitman senior Andrew Tremblay tried unsuccessfully to control his vehicle when the simulator mimicked what he would have experienced if he had had several drinks. ”If there's alcohol involved, I won't be driving or getting into someone else's car,” said Tremblay.
“It was very hard to drive that way,” said another Whitman senior, Michelle Stodolski, after her turn in the simulator. “It makes you realize that driving drunk would not be easy, like kids may think. It would be so easy to get into an accident or even kill someone. It can happen to anyone, and this program made you realize that.”
In an even stronger presentation called “Choices or Consequences,” Nassau County Assistant District Attorney Maureen McCormick detailed the effects of bad decisions about driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The program featured first-person accounts offered by young people who are living with their bad decisions. It was difficult for students to watch the video footage, caught by a dash-mounted camera, as Martin Heidgen’s pickup truck slammed head-on into a limousine, ending the life of driver Stanley Rabinowitz and 7-year-old flower girl Katie Flynn on the Meadowbrook Parkway.
“Drinking and driving can have devastating effects,” said Dr. Thomas Shea, South Huntington School Superintendent. “As a school district, we want to be as proactive as possible in taking steps to prevent it. In my January Spotlight message, I talked about parents’ responsibility to their children and others in the community, in light of the new Social Host law now in effect in Suffolk County. These final two programs of the school year cap several that we have held this year in our effort to educate our teens and help them to make good decisions.”