Driving lessons from the National Guard at H-N

Driving lessons from the National Guard at H-N

National Guard members visited the Herman-Norcross School to help teach students in Grades 9-12 the importance of avoiding impaired and/or distracted driving.  They brought with a number of “Impaired Driving Goggles” which had different settings of impairment.  As the students wore them, they learned the goggles reduced their alertness, delayed reaction time, caused confusion, visual distortion, altered depth and distance perception, reduced peripheral vision, gave them double vision, and lack of muscle coordination. While wearing them, they were asked to drive a pedal car through an obstacle course and many found it hard to stay on the road without running into a cone.  To make it even more of a challenge they had to try to text while driving, showing how taking your eyes off the road for even a second can have devastating circumstances.  They also went through a series of balancing tests that are sometimes given during sobriety tests.  Walking straight lines and touching their nose were a few seemingly easy tasks that became difficult when wearing the goggles. It was a great learning experience for the highschoolers.         Submitted  by Tracy Perry