LT Students Drive 'Drunk' in Sheriff Simulation

Texting and driving isn’t as easy as it looks, Lyons Township students learned Tuesday during a workshop set up by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

Driver’s Ed students drove golf carts while texting, and then while wearing goggles that simulate drunkenness.

It was a wake-up call for the teens.

“You think, ‘Oh, I’ll be able to do it,’” said Carmel Parker, 15. “But then you hit every cone.”

Driver’s Ed teacher Jeff Johnson said the sheriff’s office performs the workshop at LT once a semester, free of charge. He covers the dangers of texting or drinking while driving in class, but he said it makes a difference to hear it from uniformed officers.

And to experience it.

“I was much cockier before,” 16-year-old Danny Salerno said.

Before the exercise, officers reviewed Illinois’ distracted and drunken driving laws.

Officer Jim Paulette shared pictures of teenagers who are in jail or awaiting trial for reckless homicide because they were driving drunk.

“If you kill somebody, if you hurt somebody, if you severely injure somebody, that’s something you’re never going to get over,” he said.

The period between Memorial Day and Labor Day is the deadliest time of year for crashes involving drunken drivers, he said, urging students to call their parents if they do slip up and have a drink.

Officer Gregory Barron said it’s illegal for drivers younger than 19 to use cell phones for any purpose on the road. After that, it’s still illegal to text, email or use Facebook behind the wheel, and to talk on the phone without a hands-free device.

“All it takes is a split second for things to change,” he said. And if your eyes aren’t on the road, it could spell disaster.

Parker said the seminar changed her perspective on distracted driving.

“While you’re texting,” she said, echoing Barron’s words, “it really only does take a second to change everything.”