Students in northwest TN learn real-feel dangers of impaired driving
UNION CITY, Tenn. (KBSI) – Several Union City School students got a serious life lesson – without the consequences on Wednesday and Thursday.
UNITE’s Arrive Alive Tour visited the Union City High School campus and provided participants with simulated dangers of impaired driving. This was in conjunction with the Union City Police and Obion County sheriff departments and the Tennessee Highway Safety Office.
The Arrive Alive team’s mission is to educate drivers on the dangers and consequences of impaired and distracted driving and to create lifelong safe driving habits.
The company is out Grand Rapids, Michigan. Its representatives provided a state-of-the-art fully-functional simulator that allowed students to replicate driving while distracted, drunk, or drugged.
The simulator allowed participants to experience real-life dangers without real-life repercussions.
“It was an educational experience that we think was priceless and invaluable,” said UCHS School Resource Officer and Department head Raphe Whaley. “This technology is amazing. It’s really been an eye-opener for our students.
Arrive Alive Tour officials say traffic deaths rose 10.9 percent nationwide, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association. The deadly crash rate for teens is three times greater than for drivers ages 20 and older. Driver distraction is responsible for more than 58 percent of teen crashes.
Young drivers (ages 16-20) are 17 times more likely to die in a crash when they have a blood alcohol level of .08 percent than when they have not been drinking.
The Arrive Alive team’s mission is to educate drivers on the dangers and consequences of impaired and distracted driving and to create lifelong safe driving habits.
The Arrive Alive Tour has traveled the country for 20 years or so. The tour regularly works with law enforcement communities and insurance companies in addition to visiting high school and college campuses and the military.
Representatives of the group also presented their display to students at Obion County Central and South Fulton after leaving Union City.
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