Schools

Adelphi Students Drive 'Drunk' in Simulator

The event was the first of many honoring National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week Oct. 21-27.

Written by Sophia Conti, Adelphi University student, School of Social Work

Adelphi University students participated in an impaired driving simulator event Oct. 21. The simulator allowed students to drive a golf cart around a circle of safety cones while wearing a pair of drunk vision goggles. The goggles simulate the vision of a person with a blood alcohol concentration of .08, roughly the equivalent of four drinks in one hour.

The drunk driving simulator, sponsored by the Student Counseling Center, Public Safety and the Health and Wellness Peer Educators, was the first of many Adelphi activities honoring National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, which took place Oct. 21-27.

Other events included a defensive driving course and a workshop entitled “The Business of Drinking Socially,” which gave students over the age of 21 the opportunity to participate in a wine tasting experience as a way of gaining social skills to use as young professionals.

Public Safety sergeant Gerry Lennon wants students to gain an overall awareness of how dangerous alcohol can be. “I don’t want students to ruin their lives at such a young age for one night of fun,” Lennon said. “Something like this affects the rest of your life.”

Greta Tiberia, Adelphi’s drug and alcohol abuse counselor, agrees. “Binge drinking affects every aspect of a student’s college life,” she said. “We want to make sure students understand that.”

Ana Maldonado, an Adelphi sophomore, said she used to think drunk people saw everything just a little bit differently. “But it was tricky. Everything was mixed up and really blurry,” she added.

Many Peer Educators who plan events that raise student awareness of health and wellness issues consider the impaired driving simulator their favorite event of the year. “It’s so interactive,” said Patrice Kerlegrand, a senior Peer Educator. “Students can really see the negatives of drunk driving.”

Fellow Peer Educator Philicia Benigno agreed. “Students can make their own decision about whether or not to drive drunk,” she said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here