Cherokee Students Participate In Drunk Busters Program

CANTON, GA — Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services traveled to Ace Academy in Canton earlier this week to allow students to participate in their Drunk Busters program.

Drunk Busters is a program that teaches students about the difficulties of being impaired from drinking alcohol. Students are given drunk buster googles to wear while participating in three different exercises.

“Wearing the goggles simulates the effects of impairment and it shows the students how difficult it becomes when doing a simple every day activity while being under the influence," Senior Fire Educator Lisa Grisham said.

While wearing the googles, students are asked to take a pitcher of water and fill a couple of glasses. The students are then asked to put together a simple puzzle and to walk a straight line. The most significant exercise is when students are asked to get on a pedal kart and travel in and out of a line of pylons on the street that simulates driving while drunk.

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for more than 30 percent of all driving fatalities each year including 4,700 teenagers, more than all illegal drugs combined, the department said. Drunk driving costs the United States more than $199 billion every year.

Impaired driving is a crime and also results in significant fines, higher insurance costs and even losing your license. Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services is committed to educate teenagers about the dangers of drinking and driving because the life they save may be their own.