The Ulster County Probation Department came to the High School to talk with the Grade 11 students before their Junior Prom to dispense a life-changing message: DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE. The county’s STOP-DWI program seeks to reduce the incidence of drunk and/or drugged driving deaths and personal injury crashes by educating students about its many negative consequences. Students use an arcade-style driving simulator that mimics the impaired cognitive effects of intoxication on driving, such as overcorrecting the steering wheel, delayed breaking, and a dizzying visual of the road. 

Students also tried on the program’s version of “beer goggles” that create a virtual reality of compromised cognitive functions, disabling the wearer from being able to throw or catch a ball, walk a straight line, or even pick up a set of keys from the floor. Overconfident students who strapped on the googles soon expressed surprise at their inability to perform a seemingly simple task.