LANCASTER, Ky. (LEX 18) — Nearly every Garrard County High School student that stepped inside UNITE's Arrive Alive Tour simulator Wednesday ended their drive with a crash.
Through goggles they wore, about 200 seniors could literally see what it was like to drive drunk, high on THC, or distracted on a cell phone.
"It was pretty hard," senior Ian Alcorn said. "You get three chances, and I wrecked on all three, so it wasn't really easy."
Alcorn said the demo was better than any textbook or lecture on the topic.
"If I get in the car and I'm able to experience the wreck, it's more realistic than to sit down and read a book and listen to someone talk to me. I get to experience what'll actually happen," he said.
Youth Services Center Director Endia Harvey invited Arrive Alive with this statistic in mind: theCDC reportsteens are nearly three times more likely to die in a car crash than drivers 20 and older.
"For them to be able to sit behind the wheel and actually see it happen, what can happen, I think it's an eye-opener to some," Harvey said.
According to the CDC, motor vehicle crashes are the second leading cause of death for teens in the U.S.
Harvey knows the simulator lesson may not reach every kid, but if it saves just one life, she said she has done her job.
