Contributed Photos
This is the second year that the Petersburg Sheriff's Office has worked with students who are in Driver Education to provide information to keep them and others safe on the road. It is a two day session with the first day providing a classroom session with videos and sharing information on how drinking and driving and texting and driving could drastically change your life in a split second with one of my deputies sharing a personal experience of how she lost her husband as a result of a drunk driver. The second day actually gives them hands on experience in a Golf Cart that has been modified with seat belts, signal lights, rear view mirrors, headlights, etc. They are given goggles that distort their vision at various strengths based on the number of drinks that have been consumed and also given a cell phone to show them the consequences of texting and driving. We set up an obstacle course with orange cones and give them the opportunity to actually experience what it is like to drink and drive and text and drive by maneuvering through the obstacle course. The above picture shows Sheriffs' Office deputies guiding the students through the course.