Demonstration: Texting while driving "as dangerous" as driving while intoxicated

Charlotte, NC

"Mothers Against Texting While Driving" just doesn't seem to have the same political appeal as "Mothers Against Drunk Driving."

A recent study found drivers who use their cell phones behind the wheel perform just as poorly as legally drunk drivers.

While texting, the average driver spends two to three seconds looking at their phone and only one second looking at the road.

If you think that won't really affect their driving, think again.

"Four out of five drivers say texting while driving is dangerous. Yet half of those say they text while they drive," notes Tom Crosby, president of the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Crosby and troopers with the North Carolina Highway Patrol set up a challenge course to show people just how bad driving while texting really is.

Elisabeth Crosby volunteered to put her driving and texting skills to the test.

When Crosby sent two text messages, she was a full nine seconds slower on her time, and she hit 13 additional cones.

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Mock DWI scare tactics used to "educate" highschool stuents

Dunkirk, NY

In a continuing effort to indoctrinate children into the cult of MADD and forward its agenda, propaganda techniques carefully calculated to traumatize children are employed. Save me from the good guys.

Tonight is Dunkirk High School's prom at the Dunkirk Moose Club. Will some of the prom goers show up under the influence of alcohol or drugs? If they do, they will likely get caught and not be admitted to this important traditional dance. How?

At a mock DWI demonstration Friday, an administrator announced that the prom is a school function and all school rules and regulations apply. Every student entering the Moose Club will be subjected to a Breathalyzer test, he said.

Whether to prove they were above such warnings or simply didn't care, a number of the students appeared not to be impressed by this cautionary speech. What did impress them however, was the mock driving while intoxicated presentation they witnessed on the Dunkirk High School's football field.

It was sponsored by the school's SADD Club, working together with the Dunkirk Police, Dunkirk Fire Department, Alstar Ambulance Service, Starflight Helicopter, county coroner Warren Riles and the Mackowiak Funeral Home.

In an ironic twist of fate, the funeral director's cousin, senior Bridget Mackowiak, agreed to represent the fatal victim in the mock two-car crash. When asked afterward what it felt like, lying on a backboard with a bloody sheet thrown over her body she said it was weird. "I tried to avoid bad thoughts as I lay there," she said.

Among the list of charges placed against Josh Sobilo, a junior, was driving while intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter. He experienced a mock arraignment before Dunkirk City Judge Walter Drag and was jailed in lieu of $10,000 cash or $20,000 property bond bail.

At he mock funeral, Bridget spoke to the audience one last time. "I'm asking you not to drink and drive. If you consider it, think about what a DWI did to me. I'm in a good place now; remember, this is not goodby it's 'see you later,'" she said.

The curtain in the high school auditorium drew to a close and there was a round of applause for the SADD performers.

Bridget's friends Giana Porpiglia and Hannah Catalano were particularly moved by her mock death. "I felt terrible and it was hard to watch; I can't imagine what it would be like to have it really happen," Giana said.

Hannah said it made her cry. School counselors were available to help students who were particularly upset by the demonstration. At least one student was escorted from the field.

During the auditorium presentation, Coroner Riles and Dunkirk Police Chief David Ortolano spoke to the students about their personal experiences in real life DWI cases. The chief told of having to notify a fellow police officer and friend of his about the death of this friend's son in a car crash that involved alcohol. "These memories stay with you," he said.

Coroner Riles said a friend of his who sat on the stage with him hours before in a graduation ceremony was killed when his car was hit by a train. "I was working for a funeral home at the time and was assigned to respond to the scene," he said, noting that alcohol was also involved in this tragedy. "I graduated 50 years ago and each time my graduation class gets together, this death so long ago is always brought up."

Noting proms and graduations should be happy occasions, Coroner Riles said, "Don't become a similar topic for your class."

Chief Ortolano said the mock DWI presentation is not a joke and is not something to laugh at. "This is about as real as we can make it for you guys.

"I want all of you to give what you see and here today serious thought and give it the respect it deserves," he said, adding, "Make sure you make the right decision. If it prevents one DWI crash, we've done our job."

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Save a Life Tour is on the road, cashing in on DWI prevention

Utica, NY


The Save a Life Tour is the cash cow brainchild of Kramer Entertainment, Inc., "The Nations Leader in High-Tech Entertainment and Attractions."

Kramer Entertainment is a full service agency providing high-tech, crowd gathering entertainment and attractions to colleges, universities, corporate events, conventions and places of business. Attractions include drunk driving simulation and awareness programs, full-motion NASCAR simulators, live acts, interactive events, games shows and much more. Kramer Entertainment is located in Grand Rapids, MI and has been in business since 1949.

Kramer rakes in a per event charge of about $5,000, but that's not all. They also shamelessly go after corporate sponsorship money, including paid product placement in the simulation. Still can't afford the $5k charge, don't worry. Kramer provides information on funding possibilities to help pay their fee.

The Save a Life Tour visits over 250 locations annually. That's $1,250,000 per year in event fees. Not bad for a traveling video game. One only can imagine how much more Kramer is collects in corporate sponsorship fees.

The DWI industry is just that. It's an industry.

Utica College junior Andrew Demyan was swerving all over the road Monday afternoon. He barely missed hitting a woman on the sidewalk as he over corrected after turning down a street.

“I felt like I was driving drunk,” the 21-year-old said after he stepped out of a drunk driving simulator set up in the student center of the college. “I’m definitely going to throw my keys at people when I drink.”

The simulator was part of the Save A Life Tour that stopped at the college Monday for six hours to show students the consequences of drinking and driving.

Brian Beldyga, cofounder of the Save a Life Tour, said the program is designed to grab students at different levels. There is “the shock factor” of an open casket, the more than 30-foot simulator and screens, Beldyga’s speaking and videos showing victims of DWI crashes.

Nine-and-a-half years ago, Beldyga watched his fiancee die after a 19-year-old who had consumed three beers hit the car they were in.

While Beldyga wasn’t drinking that night, he said before that he had gotten behind the wheel “maybe 1,800 times” after drinking.

“I thought I was the exception to the rule,” he said.

Since then, he has toured the country hoping that someone who sees the presentation or drives in the simulator may someday take the keys away from a drunken friend.

“This is for the friend that knows it’s bad,” he said. “Maybe something they learn here will make them say ‘I’ll take the keys.’”

The simulator was sponsored by the Inter-Greek Council to help curb drinking and driving over spring break next week.

“We were looking for something different,” said Maureen Murphy, council advisor and assistant director of student activities. “This has the best shock factor and is real and in your face.”
In the more than nine years Beldyga has been doing the tour, he said he has never met anyone who admits to driving while drunk.

“They never cop to being drunk while driving,” Beldyga said. “Drunk to them is vomiting and you can’t say your own name. But we know it’s a problem. If you have one drink, you’re affected.”

Senior Matt Falso, 22, said he enjoyed the presentation.

“It’s a good tool to encourage people not to drink and drive,” he said. “I’m going to head back to the dorms and grab a couple of people to see it.”

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High school project: Stage mock DWI crash at middle school to fight under-underage DWI

Cameron, MO

This story pegs both the weirdness meter and the questionable statistics meter.

The weirdness meter: "The students will not witness fatalities this year, we have worked very hard to keep the activities age appropriate." Are we to infer that this is an annual event at the middle school in which the kids (5th and 6th graders) witnessed fatalities in years past?

The questionable statistics meter: "In 2007, 522 DWI arrests were of children ages 14 and younger. Over 100 of those same 522 arrests were children 10 years or younger." What?! More than 100 kids 10 or younger arrested for DWI?

Nine year-olds getting arrested for DWI sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy bit, not the stuff of middle school public awareness programs put on by high school kids.

Two students from the Cameron High School DECA program, Bobby Thompson and Emilie Hamilton, have chosen a continuation of the Arrive Alive, Don't Drink and Drive programs from previous years to use as this year's DECA project. Each year the kids choose a program to either start from scratch or to expand upon from previous years. The students must change it up from previous projects, research, develop, promote and then execute in order to create a public awareness.

This year Hamilton and Thompson decided to try and reach a younger audience after discovering some scary statistics. While nationally, 70 percent of High School students consume alcohol, studies show that one in 10 kids age 12 to 13 drink alcohol at least once a month. In 2007, 522 DWI arrests were of children ages 14 and younger. Over 100 of those same 522 arrests were children 10 years or younger. This year, the mock drunk driving accident scene moves to the Cameron Middle School.

"We know that school children this age do not drive yet," explained CHS teacher and DECA Sponsor, Stephanie Williams. "But they are getting into cars with school aged children who do. And, they are making decisions at this age that do affect their lives. After seeing some of the statistics on under aged drinking, my students felt more than ever that it was important to educate the middle school aged children on the consequences of drunk driving."

Last year a group of DECA students worked with school officials and local authorities to create a mock crash of two vehicles and act out a scene in which high school students witnessed the consequences of a drunk driving incident. The event was a success.

So much so, that one passer buyer stopped to question if everyone was all right and ask what happened. Luckily, DECA Sponsor Stephanie Williams was able to explain to the witness that the entire scene was part of a project created by DECA students to create awareness about drunk driving.

This year students of the Cameron Middle School will be given a presentation by Betsy Polly, a Life Net Air Ambulance nurse. After the assembly, students will then hear a 911 call played over the PA system from a student actor who has just been hit by a drunk driver. Older students, grades seven and eight, will then proceed outside to witness a staged accident scene complete with victims and emergency response teams.

"The students will not witness fatalities this year, we have worked very hard to keep the activities age appropriate," said Williams. "The younger grades, fifth and sixth grade, will be given a presentation by Nurse Polly. We will also announce the winners of the poster contest held for the grades that week."

After DECA has finished the mock car accident scene the fifth and sixth graders will be taken outside to see the vehicles.

"Again, Scotty's tow service has been kind enough to bring a couple of vehicles out and stage them for the mock accident," said Williams. "The younger students will not be brought out until the exercise has completed and only the vehicles are left. We felt it was important to work with our school professionals in order to keep age appropriate exercises placed with the proper age groups. School Counselor Lisa Pruitt was very instrumental in organizing this event with the middle school."

The mock accident will be staged outside of the middle school and is scheduled to begin at approximately 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Oct. 30.

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DWI education in high school: Cops lie, tell students several classmates killed in DWI crash

El Camino, CA

This story is undisputed proof that the drunk driving industry is proud to inflict classic brainwashing techniques on our children to further their cause. What other political advocacy group would be invited into public schools to subject our children to lies, scare tactics, and extreme emotional abuse?

On a Monday morning last month, highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School to announce some horrible news: Several students had been killed in car wrecks over the weekend.

Classmates wept. Some became hysterical.

A few hours and many tears later, though, the pain turned to fury when the teenagers learned that it was all a hoax - a scared-straight exercise designed by school officials to dramatize the consequences of drinking and driving.

As seniors prepare for graduation parties Friday, school officials in the largely prosperous San Diego suburb are defending themselves against allegations they went too far.

At school assemblies, some students held up posters that read: "Death is real. Don't play with our emotions."

Michelle de Gracia, 16, was in physics class when an officer announced that her missing classmate David, a popular basketball player, had died instantly after being rear-ended by a drunken driver. She said she felt nauseated but was too stunned to cry.

"They got the shock they wanted," she said.

Some of her classmates became extremely upset, prompting the teacher to tell them immediately it was all staged.

"People started yelling at the teacher," she said. "It was pretty hectic."

Others, including many who heard the news of the 26 deaths between classes, were left in the dark until the missing students reappeared hours later.

"You feel betrayed by your teachers and administrators, these people you trust," said 15-year-old Carolyn Magos. "But then I felt selfish for feeling that way, because, I mean, if it saves one life, it's worth it."

Officials at the 3,100-student school officials defended the program.

"They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized," said guidance counselor Lori Tauber, who helped organize the shocking exercise and got dozens of students to participate. "That's how they get the message."

The plan was to tell the truth to the students at an assembly later in the day. But word that it was all a hoax began to spread before the gathering. Tauber said some counselors and administrators revealed the truth to calm some students who had become upset.

Oceanside Schools Superintendent Larry Perondi said he fielded only a few calls from parents, while the PTA chapter said it had not heard any complaints. Perondi said the program would be revised, but he would not say how. And he said he was glad that students seemed to have gotten the message.

"We did this in earnest," he said. "This was not done to be a prankster."

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Drunk driving simulator car used to scare kids in driver ed

Salem, VA

Not to be outdone, Shriners and clowns also hit the road...

A DUI simulation for driver's education students using a short driving test with magnified goggles was set up at Lord Botetourt High School Wednesday, April 30 by State Troopers Mason Jordan and Allen Mann.

Since its development by Mann and two other officers a few years ago, the program has grown and spread throughout the State Police’s Area 38, which is made up of 14 counties.

The program began without its own equipment. Mann started out using borrowed high school supplies and borrowed goggles. Thanks to funding through a Mothers Against Drunk Divers (MADD) memorial fund by an anonymous donor, the DUI simulation program has its own goggles, a travel trailer and a custom built mini-police cruiser made out of the body of a golf cart for the students to test drive.

The mini-cruiser was designed and built by Chris Persinger of Jen Fab. It took 240 hours to build the car. Many resources were pooled to make the car look as detailed and as functional as possible. The car contributes to the end result—getting the teenagers’ attention.

"When dealing with teenagers, you've got to get their attention. They love it (the driving test) and they're listening to what you're talking about. It's a serious message," Mann said.

"They (the kids) have fun," Jordan added.

The goal is always to reach as many kids as possible with the important message of the dangers of driving under the influence. The atmosphere is relaxed and fun. The messages are delivered with an easy smile.

But the fun is for the classroom, Mann explained. There will be no more smiling by Mann or Jordan if these kids get arrested.

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Hangover DWI / DUI, AAA warns of driving on the ‘morning after’ drinking binge

Kingsport, TN

Don't get a Hangover DWI/DUI. Plan ahead. Wait to drive until afternoon.

Alcohol stays in the system longer than most people think and can affect judgment, reaction time and coordination well into the next day.

The danger of driving drunk this New Year’s holiday (and getting a DWI/DUI) doesn’t end Monday night, according to the American Automobile Association.

Alcohol stays in the system long after even moderate drinking ends, according to AAA East Tennessee, setting the stage for New Year’s Day alcohol-related DWI/DUI crashes and tragedies.

“Planning ahead to avoid driving after drinking New Year’s Eve helps all of us enjoy the celebration,” said Don Lindsey, director of public affairs at AAA East Tennessee. “But even with that good decision, those who drink a lot that night should avoid driving until at least the next afternoon.” More >>

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Sticky Note Campaign to Prevent Drunk Driving

Yankton, SD

Local bars stick it to their customers in an effort to reduce DWI/DUI.

More than 25 bars and restaurants in South Dakota are giving their patrons a message they hope will stick. The bars and restaurants distributed "Don't Drink and Drive" sticky notes to customers when they delivered the bills Saturday.

The sticky notes were given out last summer and were so popular the program was brought back for the holidays. Some servers noticed the positive effect the notes have had. Becky Cass the supervisor of Yesterday's Cafe in Yankton, SD said, "A lot of people have taken 'em with 'em so maybe they're gonna stick 'em to their mirror and remind themselves."

The notes are part of the "Drunk Driving. Over the limit. Under arrest." campaign that runs through the end of this year.

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