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Traffic crashes are the number-one killer of teens and 28 percent of fatal traffic crashes involving teen drivers are alcohol-related.
In 2006, about 10.8 million young people aged 12 to 20 (28.3 percent) reported drinking alcohol in a one-month period. Approximately 7.2 million (19 percent) were binge drinkers and 2.4 million (6.2 percent) were heavy drinkers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving reports. MADD says these numbers have essentially stayed the same since 2002. On Monday, the Oregon Community Family Coalition is donating a go-cart to Oregon Schools so students can find out what it is like driving drunk.
The go-cart will be used by the Oregon police department’s Fatal Vision Program. It is a three-way partnership involving the police department, the school district and OCFC. The go-cart, which cost OCFC about $2,000, will be driven while wearing fatal vision glasses that can be set for different levels of intoxication.
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Oregon police officer Tim McLeod, the Clay resource officer,
sits in the Go-cart donated by the Oregon Community Family
Coalition. (Photo courtesy of Tim McLeod) |
The school system will own the go-cart, store it, and pay insurance, while the police department will provide safety helmets, maintain and haul the go-cart from locale to locale. The City of Oregon is allowing the police to use a city trailer to transport it, and plans are for the go-cart to also be available at Cardinal Stritch High School and for use by the community.
Oregon Schools Assistant Superintendent Hal Gregory has acted as the go-between among the three partners, and now it is becoming reality.
Sgt. Tony Castille of Oregon’s community policing section said the idea originated with Officer Tim McLeod, the Clay resource officer.
“I used to have (McLeod’s) position back when we first started having the officers in the schools, and (Fatal Vision) was a program we initially started in the early 2000s,” Castille said. “At the time I was doing it, we were just using the fatal vision goggles during the health class.
“The best way to describe it is an anti-alcohol use campaign, because it gives an idea of what can happen to you or how your body is affected when you consume alcohol and distort your equilibrium. Officer Tim McLeod had come up with an idea on how to expand on that — if they could do a driving portion of that while the fatal vision goggles were on. The best way we thought we could that was potentially with a go-cart, golf cart, or something like that.
“We started talking with OCFC about it, and fortunately they had the funds to actually purchase the go-cart and donate it to Oregon City Schools so we could use that for the Fatal Vision goggles program, basically expanding it. The intention is to put a student in the go-cart on a controlled course on the school grounds with the goggles on. They’ll probably run through it without the goggles on and then they’ll run through it with them on, and see how well they can drive through the cones and how well they can’t.
“Hopefully, they’ll learn that driving while intoxicated is dangerous — that’s ultimately what we want, and we hope it deters them from doing that.”
McLeod added, “We’ve always had the desire to let the kids see what it is like to actually maneuver a vehicle. Obviously, we wouldn’t want them using a real one, so getting a go-cart allows them to experience that.
“They wear a helmet and we’ve got a safety switch so we can shut it down, and we’ll just get them out there trying to negotiate this obstacle course, negotiate turns, and stuff like that — maybe throw some items out in front of them and see how they react to it. We’ve got the go-cart, but due to the weather, we are probably going to hold off until spring trying to get kids out there.”
The fatal vision glasses are nothing new — even parents of today’s students have had experience with them.
“If you’re walking a line, you can see what it’s like if you are taking a sobriety test while impaired and things like that,” Rebecca Woodward, OCFC youth coordinator, said.
“That’s our hope, to provide another interactive way for these students rather than just sitting there and doing a Power Point about pictures and crashes and about how many teenagers die in the state of Ohio from alcohol abuse each year. I mean, those things are good facts, but we need to actually let teenagers experience it firsthand how hard it is and what it can actually do to you. The hope is it will curve their decision-making.”
Pic-go-cart
Clay resource police officer Tim McLeod sits in the go-cart donated by the Oregon Community Family Coalition.
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