1 = Poor

5 = Provide new, valuable information

new

1 = Not helpful

Content / Information

Discussion Points

Practical Simulation

Show slide with definition of Impaired Driving

Hand out Drunk Driving Fact Sheet and review the facts

Use slides to Supplement discussion

Engage as many participants in the discussion as possible. You may want to divide into small groups for some of the questions and then have them come back together and share their responses.

The focus should be on why you made the decisions you did; did you understand and explore your alternatives; and to gain an understanding of the peer group, its norms, and its pressures.

Record and save all responses if possible. This data can be forward to ACSAP and useful to you in your other prevention program efforts.

If there is time, ask about other situations when this might occur.

Record and save all responses if possible. This data can be forward to ACSAP and useful to you in your other prevention program efforts.

Introduce the goggles

Select volunteers to test the goggles. Ideally, there will be time for all to try them out.

CAUTION: Watch participants closely while they attempt to do any activity in the goggles. The glasses distort vision and participants could injure themselves. Be aware that some people might experience a "woozy" hangover after they take them off. While this reinforces the lesson, some people might need to sit still for awhile to let the effects wear off.

To reinforce the idea of fun turning into serious consequences, allow the audience to enjoy what is happening, and talk to or tease the wearer. Then, go on to recount the consequences of impaired driving. Say: "Tell me what is funny about this scene." After getting responses, go on with: "Now imagine you are driving 60 miles an hour ... "

There was a time, not too long ago, when most Americans viewed alcohol-impaired traffic crashes as a regrettable but largely unavoidable aspect of life. People thought: people drink, people drive. It is inevitable that some people will drive while impaired, some will have a crash, and some will be seriously injured or killed. We used to talk about "Accidents", implying that there was little anyone could do about the problem. In fact, people used to joke or brag about their adventures getting home after a night of heavy drinking. It was viewed as a challenge to be met.

Today, that is no longer the case. Alcohol-impaired driving is no longer a source of laughs or easily shrugged off. Most people today view it as a serious public danger, even a violent crime, that results from someone’s personal decision to drive while impaired. The most important reason for this dramatic change in public attitudes, and the resulting changes in laws, has been the national grassroots movement led by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), founded in 1980 in California, by a mother whose young daughter was killed by a driver with multiple convictions for driving under the influence, and was still behind the wheel of a vehicle.

What is impaired driving?

Impaired driving can be defined as a reduction in the performance of critical driving tasks due to the effects of alcohol or other drugs. Let us look at some facts about impaired driving.

Let’s review these. Did you know ...

Even if you are lucky enough to say to yourself, "This does not involve me, think about this: alcohol related crashes, injuries, and fatalities cost society over $46 billion in lost productivity, medical costs, and property damage. Who do you think is paying for that? We all are.

The young adult driver presents the biggest challenge in the fight against impaired driving. Young adults who drive impaired comprise the largest segment of the impaired driving population across the country. They can be found in every big city and small town in the nation. Those involved in fatal crashes are most often found to be:

• single, divorced or separated white males between 21-34
• the drinking pattern is characterized by frequent heavy or binge-drinking beer, usually on weekends, but often daily, at bars or in homes most frequently with friends who have similar attitudes and drinking patterns as himself
• has experienced alcohol-related problems in the past, such as arrests, marital strife, job problems, or unemployment
• has poor coping skills and drinks to relax and reduce stress
• tends to be extroverted, impulsive, and aggressive, gets bored easily and likes to drive fast and aggressively
• has a hostile, antisocial orientation, disrespects authority, and has a record of traffic and criminal offenses
• many if not most of these individuals could be characterized as problem drinkers

The habits and beliefs of this group:

• typically claims to be able to drive safely after as much as 10-12 beers
• uses a variety of common behaviors to compensate for driving while intoxicated
• driving after drinking is a frequent and essential normative behavior
• have experienced the consequences of their actions:
  • more than half have been in an alcohol-related crash either as passenger or driver, but then

they typically returned to drinking and driving within several months

• frequently made rationalizations that ignored the role of alcohol, i.e. "I should have paid more attention to what I was doing."
• saw being caught more as a nuisance than as a serious offense and the threat of license suspension or fines was not compelling: "I’ll drive anyway."
• girlfriends, spouses, friends and peers had the greatest potential influence over their drinking and driving behavior.

Existing data confirms that those drivers in the 21-34 year old age group:

• Comprise more than half of all the impaired drivers involved in alcohol-related fatal crashes
• Are responsible for more alcohol-related fatal crashes than any other age group
• Have the highest blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) in fatal crashes
• Are about twice as likely as other drivers to have experienced a prior crash
• Are four times more likely to have had their licenses suspended or revoked
• Are the most resistant to changing drinking and driving behavior. Over the past ten years, the number of underage drunk drivers has decreased by 40%. In comparison, the number of 21-34 year old impaired drivers has only decreased by 13%.

Currently, POV accidents account for 64% of all Army fatalities. In addition non-usage of seatbelt is up 7%. What do these have to do with impaired driving? Well for one thing, seatbelts are the best defense against an impaired driver. When a driver is impaired, seatbelt usage falls to 20% or below. Eighty percent of all occupants killed in DWI crashes are unrestrained by seatbelts. And research has show that seatbelts reduce the risk of fatal or serious injury to front-seat passengers by 45-50%. Where do you usually sit?

Also, other risky behaviors go along with heavy drinking or driving while intoxicated, besides not wearing a seatbelt, such as engaging in thrilling-seeking activities, like speeding, chasing or racing other vehicles on the streets, riding with an impaired driver, using drugs, and in general putting yourself and others in danger.

How many of you have ever gotten behind the wheel of a car after you have been drinking? (Show hands). Many (most) have. Did you feel any concern about getting behind the wheel and driving?

Well, let’s take that further. Have you ever driven after drinking so much that you thought you might be in trouble if you were stopped? I want you to think back atthose times and let’s see if we can put a picture together of that scene.

• When and where was that?
• Who were you with? Had they been drinking too?
• Do you think they were more sober than you?
• Did you consider any alternatives to driving yourself? Why didn’t you do that?
• Did you do anything to make it safer for you to be driving?
• Do you remember what went through your mind when you made the decision to drive?
• Were you worried that something might happen while you were driving?
• What consequences were you worried about? (Seek responses such as: Injury to self, injury to others, damage to car, financial costs; embarrassment; loss of license; career; trouble with spouse/family.) What are you the most concerned about?
• Have you ever ridden with someone who you thought was too drunk to drive? Describe the situation. Did you consider any alternatives to getting where you needed to be? Why didn’t you do that?
• Have you ever avoided riding with someone you thought was too drunk to drive? Describe that situation.
• On an occasion when you know you will be drinking do you ever make plans ahead of time to try to prevent a situation where you have had to drive with someone who had too much to drink? Discuss that.
• In your social group do you ever use a designated driver? Do you take turns in that role? Does the designated driver drink at all?
• Have you ever spent the night somewhere, a friend’s house, for example, because you had had too much to drink and didn’t want to drive home? If not, why not?
• Have you ever prevented someone else from driving after drinking. Describe that, specifically, who was it, i.e. friend, acquaintance; how did you do that; how did it feel about doing it?

Sometimes when faced with a tough situation, people don’t do what they actually believe is the right thing to do. This happens a lot when people drive after drinking. They believe that driving while impaired is wrong, but they do it anyway. Why do you think that is?

Can you think of any good ways to keep people from drinking and driving; what kinds of things would be effective with you and your friends?

This has been a terrific discussion and I want to thank you all for sharing your experiences with the group. We all seem to agree that drinking and driving is wrong and bad. But there are still people out there who will continue to do it. Our discussion has given us a lot of things to think about. Particularly, how we handle ourselves in some tough situations.

As soldiers you consider yourselves physically fit, able to control your body and function in a variety of tough circumstances. Should you become impaired you may think you can get it under control. Maybe you have adopted some strategies for getting yourself "straight:" when you need to get behind the wheel of a car, things like opening the window, blaring the radio, getting someone to ride with you, or closing one eye to avoid double vision. Well let’s just see how well you do function when impaired.

Today you will have the opportunity to use the Fatal Vision Simulator Goggles, which will allow you to experience firsthand the potentially fatal consequences of alcohol and drug impairment while you are sober and able to remember the sensations. You will experience an accurate reproduction of what it’s like to be impaired.

[Have participants take turns with the goggles. Run through a sample of activities, seemingly simple, and let both the volunteer and the participants in the audience judge for themselves.]

Activities include:

• "Walk the line" : a chalk or tape line of the floor
• Touch nose, eyes, swing arms, stand on one foot, then the other
• Set up a mini-obstacle course within the room for participants to navigate
• Have them sign their name on a piece of paper in a standard signature block
• Have them reach for and replace object just outside of their grasp in sequence
• Toss a set of car keys to the volunteer, purposely off center, so they have to reach to catch them.
• If possible, have them walk outside and try to unlock a car door
• Toss some nerf balls back and forth
• Shoot some baskets
• Try using a small electric appliance or piece of equipment (Be sure to monitor carefully so no one gets hurt.)
• Come up with your own ideas

What did you experience? Good reflexes mean nothing when you are impaired. This isn’t a challenge to your skills, but to your common sense. What you experienced was an impairment of your vision. When you are under

the influence of alcohol or other drugs, not only is your vision impaired, but your brain function as well. So even if you could "see straight" the messages that go to your brain and tell you to "stop" or "catch" or "move left" would be delayed and distorted.

What we now need to think about is what WE can do to keep ourselves, our families and our community safe.

There are several approaches to addressing the problem of impaired driving:

• Increasing general awareness of the problem. We need to keep the message out there about the risks of drinking and driving. This alone isn’t going to do it, but it is part of a complete community effort. You can help. Talk to your friends, family, co-workers about this issue.
• Alternative transportation programs. These can include designated driver programs or safe rides programs. Sometimes these require planning ahead, before you start drinking, and before your judgment becomes impaired. So think about your options before hand.
• Responsible beverage server programs. These teach people how to serve alcohol properly, with the goals of preventing service to minors; reducing the likelihood of drinkers becoming intoxicated; and preventing those who are impaired from driving. And this means at a party or someone’s home, too, not just at a bar or club. Remember this the next time you are a host or guest.
  
• Deterrence strategies. This involves consistent law enforcement, sobriety checkpoints, command or career imposed penalties. What is the cost to you when you make the decision to drink and then drive?
• Local action. People get involved in shaping their community and its culture, working collaboratively with other professionals, law-enforcement, law-makers, and community members who are also concerned and want to do something about this issue.

 

Think about you part in the solution.