Jackson County “Batmobile” parked in the parking lot of Forsyth, April 14, 2016. Photo by David Johnson.
“The Batmobile” was parked at the Forsyth parking lot on April 14 and Jackson County police officers were talking to students about drunk driving.
“We want to raise the awareness of the consequences of alcohol violators, so hopefully we see less people coming through our checkpoints, getting in accidents, and getting stopped,” said Lieutenant John Fox.
According to the data on Motor Vehicle Safety from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2003 and 2012, over 4,102 were killed on the roads in North Carolina by drunk drivers. This is almost 1 percent more then the national death rate per 100.000 people. The highest rate of people killed as a result of drunk driving is in the 21 to 34 age group.
To further raise awareness on campus, officers had stations like the drunk goggle station, which simulates how hard it is to walk under the influence when your vision is impaired.
“We also have four officers out here running stations. One of those stations we have is called the Convincer, which simulates how it feels to get into an accident. Sometimes people have to experience the danger firsthand to understand how serious being safe is,” said officer Scott Walton.
Officer stands by as the next volunteer lines up to get on the Convincer. Photo by David Johnson.
The “Convincer” is a station that straps the person into an inclined seat and slides them down until the front of the seat hits the wall.
Many of the students sitting in the ‘Convincer’ screamed as they hit the wall, and told police that they would take the vow not to drink and drive or speed at the commitment tent on the other side of the parking lot.
“After riding on the ‘Convincer’ I felt the impact of whiplash a little bit, and it really made me rethink the dangers behind speeding to get to places and endangering myself and others,” said student Isiah Ford.
With Western growing in size and in traffic, Jackson County police hopes their awareness program on campus will make students think twice about driving drunk.
