DUI Simulator Creates Awareness
Posted by Patrick Ward
Rotary Club Members Ron Kutchmarick, Michele Fisher, Dui Simulator Project Chairwoman-Mary Ann Feno and Club Member Ron Avellino “check out” the DUI SIMulator project at Hazleton Area High School.
The Rotary Club of Hazleton provided the Safety SIMulator experience for Seniors at Hazleton Area High School and the Hazleton Area Career Center on Wednesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 11. This annual Rotary service project was started in 2007 as a pre-Prom event to discourage students from drinking and driving which so often leads to tragedy.
The Safety SIMulator is an educational tool that can help shape a safe future for teenagers. Traditionally the only way for new drivers to gain experience was to practice in the family car with a parent, or to incur the cost of a driver’s education instructor. This often leaves new drivers with limited time behind the wheel and feeling uncertain about their driving skills. The SIMulator which has a real dashboard, steering wheel and driver’s seat provides realistic, hands-on experience in a safe environment. Training also helps individuals gain confidence in their ability as a driver and helps them develop an appreciation for safety.
The Simulator also lets you drive safely under many diverse and adverse conditions including snow, fog and heavy traffic. The focus of the Rotary Club of Hazleton is to let students feel first-hand how alcohol impairs their ability to steer and brake and also shows the danger to the student when other drivers in other cars are impaired.
The lessons in safe driving and the effects of impairment learned by a teen’s experience with the Safety SIMulator should have a positive impact upon the student’s future decisions and help prevent risky behaviors and hopefully save lives.
Rotary Project Chairman Mary Ann Feno explains, “The SIMulator not only has the ability to induce intoxication effects into the user’s driving but also in the cars that are driving around that driver. If forces the student driver to not only worry about how they are driving on the road, but also to be careful and aware of how other motorists are driving.”
A driver’s license is not required to be able to participate and adult supervision is to be present at all times.
The SIMulator is available through the Pennsylvania DUI Association, established in 1979 to take action in the support of initiatives being undertaken to encourage and facility the growth of safe programs in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association is a professional organization which is working to address the DUI problem in all of its many stages, from prevention to enforcement up to adjudication and rehabilitation.
Funds for this project are created by various Rotary Club of Hazleton Fundraisers held throughout the course of the year. For updated information on the Rotary Club of Hazleton visit the Rotary Club of Hazleton Facebook page or www.hazletonrotary.org.
The Safety SIMulator is an educational tool that can help shape a safe future for teenagers. Traditionally the only way for new drivers to gain experience was to practice in the family car with a parent, or to incur the cost of a driver’s education instructor. This often leaves new drivers with limited time behind the wheel and feeling uncertain about their driving skills. The SIMulator which has a real dashboard, steering wheel and driver’s seat provides realistic, hands-on experience in a safe environment. Training also helps individuals gain confidence in their ability as a driver and helps them develop an appreciation for safety.
The Simulator also lets you drive safely under many diverse and adverse conditions including snow, fog and heavy traffic. The focus of the Rotary Club of Hazleton is to let students feel first-hand how alcohol impairs their ability to steer and brake and also shows the danger to the student when other drivers in other cars are impaired.
The lessons in safe driving and the effects of impairment learned by a teen’s experience with the Safety SIMulator should have a positive impact upon the student’s future decisions and help prevent risky behaviors and hopefully save lives.
Rotary Project Chairman Mary Ann Feno explains, “The SIMulator not only has the ability to induce intoxication effects into the user’s driving but also in the cars that are driving around that driver. If forces the student driver to not only worry about how they are driving on the road, but also to be careful and aware of how other motorists are driving.”
A driver’s license is not required to be able to participate and adult supervision is to be present at all times.
The SIMulator is available through the Pennsylvania DUI Association, established in 1979 to take action in the support of initiatives being undertaken to encourage and facility the growth of safe programs in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association is a professional organization which is working to address the DUI problem in all of its many stages, from prevention to enforcement up to adjudication and rehabilitation.
Funds for this project are created by various Rotary Club of Hazleton Fundraisers held throughout the course of the year. For updated information on the Rotary Club of Hazleton visit the Rotary Club of Hazleton Facebook page or www.hazletonrotary.org.