Garrard Co. high schoolers experience impaired driving simulator

GARRARD COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) — Garrard County high schoolers got a chance to experience impaired driving during a simulator experience Wednesday, known as the Arrive Alive tour.

The state Office of Highway Safety sponsors the tour, which is dubbed the nation’s No. 1 ranked drunk and distracted driving awareness event, as well as the first-and-only marijuana driving simulator in the country.

It gives students a chance to use the high-tech, state-of-the-art simulator to experience what driving distracted, drunk or drugged is like without actually moving.

Tour organizers say it helps teens understand and experience first-hand, the real-life dangers without the real-life consequences.

“We have the Arrive Alive tour in which is trying to promote kids to drive safely. I think it gives students the responsibility of being able to experience what it’s like to be behind the wheel but I hope they’ll be responsible and call someone if they end up in that situation,” said Garrard County Youth Services Director Endia Harvey.

National transportation officials say the fatal crash rate for teens is three times greater than for drivers age 20 and over and driver distraction is responsible for more than 58 percent of teen crashes.