On Friday May 2, Students Against Substance Abuse (SASA) conducted “Every 15 Minutes” to raise awareness of drunk driving. During both lunches there was a mock car accident that was set up to showcase the dangers of drinking and driving. The simulation was successful with the help of the Sheboygan County Police and Fire Department. In the late lunch accident, I portrayed the drunk driver and had to perform a field sobriety test as if everything was real. When I heard the police sirens I placed the drunk goggles over my eyes and waited for the police to give me further instruction. It was very hard to see normal with the goggles on, I couldn’t use my peripheral vision and it was hard to tell what was going on. I exited the car I “drove” when I noticed the police car pull up. I was informed to sit back down and I was asked if I had any injuries. I heard the officer pronounce the other driver D.O.A., and that her passenger was in critical condition. I was then asked to exit my car and walk away from the scene so the officer could conduct a field sobriety test. After, Officer Priebe asked me a few questions and instructed me to do a few tasks. The first task was to lean my head all the way back, put my arms out like an airplane, close my eyes, and touch my nose when instructed. This wasn’t too hard for me but I did hit my mouth a few times before touching my nose. The second test was the walk-and-turn test. I had to watch my feet as I tried to walk in a straight line and count out loud for each step I took. The difficulty of this task was I couldn’t use my arms to keep myself balanced and with the goggles on it was hard to see which line I was supposed to walk on because my vision was doubled. Once I finished this test I had to do the one-leg stand. I had to hold up my foot approximately six inches and count to 30 by thousands. This was also very challenging because your vision accounts for how well you can balance and balancing is a challenge for me in the first place. I had to look at my foot as I counted and I wobbled as my foot came down many times. After Ofc. Priebe concluded that I had miserably failed the sobriety test, he put me under arrest, handcuffed me, and walked me to his vehicle. As I walked to the car I looked around a bit to see if I could decipher what had happened to everyone else. The hearse had come and the paramedics were loading up the girl on the stretcher into the ambulance. I sat down in the back of Priebe’s car and could only think about how real criminals have sat on the cold hard plastic seat where I was sitting. As we pulled up on front of school and he uncuffed me, he reminded me how this event happens every day. The choice to drink and drive can cost the lives of others as well as your own. In this situation the driver of the other car died from internal injuries and her passenger died on the way to the hospital from bleeding out. If this were real I would have faced time in prison for killing two people, and most likely would have been sued in civil court for causing the loss of daughters from two families. After, I would have served my sentence, it would be hard to find a good job and insurance would be extremely expensive because I would be a high risk client. I’d also have to live the rest of my life knowing that a stupid decision to drive while intoxicated killed two innocent people. Even driving while tipsy or slightly intoxicated is dangerous. If you had a few beers at a party and your judgement is slightly impaired you are putting the law against you. If you are driving under the influence and you get in an accident that isn’t your fault you’d still be at blame because you made the decision to drink and drive. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, in 2012 there were 33,000 convictions for drunken driving offenses and alcohol-related crashes killed 223 people and injured 3,000. Drinking and driving is extremely dangerous and could cost the life of an innocent person, and essentially it will cost yours. Story by Brianna Fischer