SADD Club Encourages Students to Make Healthy Choices

 

This past Wednesday, April 24, the club highlighted the importance of — and repercussions — of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol by bringing a drunk-driving simulator and a “crash car” to campus. The simulator is a virtual way for students to understand how substances can delay responses and reactions, and thus impact driving; the crash car, a vehicle involved in a DWI collision, is a stark reminder of the reality of driving while impaired.

“Students typically are surprised by their own reaction when they experience the level of incapacitation behind the wheel of the simulator,” said Stef Carbone, Director of Counseling and SADD Club advisor.

SADD has been bringing the simulator and crash car to campus for the past 16 years. Arjahn Cox ’19, the club’s co-president, highlighted the popularity of the simulator and underscored how surprised students are by the difficulty of “driving” in the simulator.

Last week, officer Justin Kamke of the Dobbs Ferry Police Department, met with students on campus and encouraged them to try on vision impairment goggles to allow them to experience the incapacitating effects of alcohol.  

The goal of these events, explained Carbone, is to motivate students to “think very deliberately before they make the decision to get behind the wheel as an impaired driver.”