According to the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “each day in the United States, more than nine people are killed and more than 1,153 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver…. Almost 30 people… die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver.”
In order to increase awareness of this phenomenon, the criminal justice department will hold a drunk and distracted driving simulation on the Troy campus on Monday, Nov. 9.
The free event will be held on the Social Quad from 8 a.m. to noon and is open to the public.
A full-size vehicle will be brought in from out of state and set up to allow participants an opportunity to simulate either driving with drunk goggles or texting while driving.
The purpose is to illustrate the effects of drunk and distracted driving and show the harmful effects of impaired driving.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, “distracted driving activities include things like using a cellphone, texting and eating.”
Darius Davis, a senior criminal justice major from Panama City, Florida, is one of several students who is organizing this service learning project through his senior seminar class.
“We decided to pursue this event because we felt that it was important to find something that most students would be interested in and that could be beneficial to the student body,” Davis said.
“We hope that this will bring awareness to the dangers of drinking and driving as well as texting and driving,” he said. driving.”
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