THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 5, 1995 TAG: 9504050466
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
High school senior Ben Thomas ripped through the first lap of the cone-lined autocross course like a rookie racer bound for Indianapolis.
Spinning, screeching tires threaded the sporty Dodge/Plymouth Neon through a B-shaped course in the Kellam High School parking lot as surprised classmates cheered the driving novice, barely a year of road experience under his seat belt.
``Look at him go!'' a student shouted.
Surely ahead:
The winner's circle. An appearance on Letterman. A Valvoline endorsement.
But on the second lap, disaster struck. A computer poured several imaginary beers into the 17-year-old driver and the car reacted, well, slowly.
The hard-driving senior's nimble maneuvers turned to plodding, sluggish struggles with the uncooperative car. The staggering sport coupe crushed cones like a John Deere combine flattening a cornfield.
The final injustice came as Thomas plowed over a pretend pedestrian, ensuring future difficulties recruiting a pit crew.
Such is drunken driving, said the organizers who brought the special car to Kellam, one of four local stops on a national tour that will make 120 appearances at high schools this year. The national tour is sponsored by the Chrysler Corporation and MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
The modified Neon - billed as the car that drives drunk - is at Tallwood High School today. Thursday and Friday, it is scheduled to be in Chesapeake at Great Bridge and Indian River high schools, respectively.
In the simulation, roles are reversed: The driver stays sober and the car gets loaded.
An operator feeds the driver's weight and a number of drinks into the car's computer, which makes the steering and braking less responsive. A single drink gives the car a slightly sluggish response. More make the car nearly unmanageable.
``You didn't have control over anything,'' Thomas said. ``You never knew what would happen next. It makes you consider everything that could happen.''
The computer adjustments delay the car's functions and mimic the slowed reflexes of a typical drunken driver, organizers said.
``It makes you think how scary it is'' to drive drunk, said 16-year-old junior Sarah Workman.
``It makes you think that you shouldn't do it.''
Two local car dealers and a host of advocacy groups trotted out the tipsy Neon just weeks before Kellam's April 29 prom. They hope students will remember the example and stay sober.
Although the legal drinking age is 21, teens frequently mix alcohol and driving, police say.
The boozed-up Neon demonstrates what happens when inexperienced drivers and drinkers get behind the wheel.
``You can't steer it at all, and when you do steer, it doesn't do anything,'' said 17-year-old senior Kristy Palmieri, who struck fear in the hearts of the traffic cones, wiping out at least a dozen and dragging one under the car for the length of her second lap.
``She drives like that all the time,'' said her friend. ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff color photos
Jennifer Talbott, 17, a senior at Kellam High School in Virginia
Beach, is embarrassed after knocking over a number of cones in an
obstacle course in the school's parking lot while driving a
Dodge/Plymouth Neon car designed to ``drive drunk.''
by CNB