Herkimer Central School District students in grades 10-12 had the opportunity to experience impaired and distracted driving through virtual reality during a visit from the Save a Life Tour on Monday, May 12.
Students said they found the hands-on challenge impactful and beneficial.
“I think it’s a great way to show that teenagers shouldn’t use their phones or any substances while driving,” Herkimer sophomore Canaan Hayes said.
At the cusp of prom and graduation season, Herkimer Central School District typically puts on a mock car crash and trial every other year to emphasize the dangers of impaired driving. With a mock crash taking place last year, the district added the Save a Life Tour for the first time this year to supplement that initiative.
“We brought this in to take a proactive approach to making sure our students really understand the dangers of driving impaired or distracted,” High School Principal Zachary Abbe said. “This is a safe way for them to discover how much it can really impair their driving ability.”
Herkimer School Resource Officer Jessica Alberts suggested adding the Save a Life Tour at Herkimer after hearing about it during a statewide, week-long training conference she attends annually for juvenile officers and school resource officers.
Alberts said Herkimer Police Chief Michael Jory supported the plan to bring in Save a Life Tour.
“The chief is great – especially when I have ideas for the children,” Alberts said.
Abbe and Herkimer Superintendent Kathleen Carney were also very supportive of the suggestion, Alberts said.
“We have a great community here where we all work together, and at the end of the day, it’s about the kids,” Alberts said.
To Alberts, the goal of having the Save a Life Tour visit the school is to make sure that students understand the dangers of impaired and distracted driving – especially this time of year.
“Why I brought it in here is because we want everybody there on graduation day,” Alberts said.
Alberts also is doing “No Empty Chair” presentations to Herkimer juniors and seniors on Tuesday, May 13, and Wednesday, May 14, based on the idea of not wanting to have an empty chair at graduation due to a student dying in an accident.
Alberts said she always tells students how much she would be devastated if she ever has to show up to an accident scene and see one of her students killed in a crash – and how the impact of such a tragedy would affect so many people.
“It not only affects me, but it affects the whole community,” she said.
Ben Middleton, tour manager for the Save a Life Tour, gave presentations to various groups of Herkimer students before they tried out the experiences. He spoke about impairments caused by drinking, drugs and being drowsy – including personal stories about him falling asleep and getting in an accident and also losing a friend to a separate accident.
“Seeing a friend in a casket at 18, that changes everything,” he said.
Additionally, Middleton spoke about distracted driving he has observed during long drives – including texting, doing makeup and even reading a book.
“The most rare thing I saw was a driver with two hands on the wheel looking straight ahead,” he said.
People do a lot of dumb things while driving, Middleton said.
“We can only control what we are doing,” he said. “Which is why it’s so important for us to not be driving distracted, not be driving impaired.”
While the Save a Life Tour is beneficial for juniors and seniors approaching prom and graduation, it also was provided to support sophomores because many of them are just starting to drive or will be driving soon.
For the impairment experience, students wore virtual reality goggles while operating a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals as they navigated through an open city. After driving for a little while, an impairment effect would kick in by creating two-second delays.
Sophomore Maya Saugh said it was a really good experience because it’s a way for students to see how much an impairment can affect driving.
“I wasn’t really expecting the impairment to come in like that,” she said, of her VR experience. “It really took control.”
Sophomore Aubrey Kuchman also thought the impaired driving experience was beneficial.
“It shows you what it can do to you,” she said.
Sophomore Lily Kaszycki said it was challenging to operate the vehicle in VR in general and especially when the impairment kicked in. She said as sophomores get their permits and licenses, it’s good for them to see what the effects of an impairment are.
Meanwhile, for the texting experience, students also sat at a steering wheel with gas and brake pedals, but instead of VR goggles, they looked up at monitor to show where they were driving in an open city. Part way through the experience, they were handed a cellphone programmed to send them messages they had to try to respond to while driving.
Sophomore Cross Nicastro said the texting experience was helpful because it was a great way to show what texting and driving would be like and made it clear that it’s difficult to do safely.
“It was extraordinarily challenging,” he said.
Sophomore Neena Jenkins-Rodriguez also said the texting experience really showed how hard it can be to drive while distracted by texting.
“I’m definitely not going to do that,” she said, of texting and driving, before speaking more about the experience. “I think it’s really helpful, and it really just shows how it is to text and drive and the dangers of everything.”
Herkimer Central School District sophomore Neena Jenkins-Rodriguez (in front) participates in a distracted driving challenge, while sophomore Aubrey Kuchman (in back) drives in virtual reality for an impaired driving experience, as Ben Middleton, tour manager for the Save a Life Tour, looks on during a Save a Life Tour event on Monday, May 12, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer Central School District sophomore Canaan Hayes participates in a distracted driving challenge as other students and School Resource Officer Jessica Alberts look on during a Save a Life Tour event on Monday, May 12, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer Central School District sophomore Maya Saugh participates in a distracted driving challenge as Ben Middleton (left), tour manager for the Save a Life Tour, and School Resource Officer Jessica Alberts (right) look on during a Save a Life Tour event on Monday, May 12, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.
Ben Middleton (left), tour manager for the Save a Life Tour, presents to Herkimer Central School District students during a Save a Life Tour event on Monday, May 12, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer Central School District sophomore Aubrey Kuchman drives in virtual reality for an impaired driving experience during a Save a Life Tour event on Monday, May 12, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer Central School District sophomore Cross Nicastro participates in a distracted driving challenge as other students and School Resource Officer Jessica Alberts look on during a Save a Life Tour event on Monday, May 12, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.