Safety puts twist on driving simulator Published March 24, 2010 By Senior Airman Clay Murray 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- To reinforce the Air Force's zero-tolerance policy of drinking and driving, the 52nd Fighter Wing Safety Office utilized something that often causes mishaps rather than prevents them - alcohol. Members of the safety office put someone with alcohol in their system behind the wheel of a driving simulator in an effort to demonstrate the adverse effects of drinking and driving in a safe, controlled environment. "An individual will operate this simulator when they consume a beverage about every 20 minutes," said Master Sgt. Joe Winfield, 52nd Fighter Wing Ground Safety manager. "(The 52nd) Security Forces Squadron is going to be here, and the driver will consume the beverage, wait a few minutes, submit to a sobriety test and breathalyzer and then drive the simulator to see progressively how their driving deteriorates." Senior Airman Amber Rodriguez, 702nd Munitions Support Squadron, participated in the event as the intoxicated driver after she heard about it from Lt. Col. James Thompson, 52nd Fighter Wing chief of safety, during a Saber Airmen Focused on Excellence and Responsibility meeting. "(I volunteered to participate) to show the public that drinking and driving is not OK, and I wanted to show how alcohol consumption affects a person's ability to drive," she said. The simulator is regularly used to teach new Sabers driving safety and for intoxicated driving simulation. "It helps our Sabers become familiar with how manual transmissions operate," Sergeant Winfield said. "It also serves as our DUI simulator and gives a feeling of being drunk in a safe driving environment. It features blurred vision and delayed reaction times and judgments, and this does a good job of giving that alcohol effect so you do find yourself weaving." The simulator is often used at wing events, and it is frequently used by volunteers, Sergeant Winfield said. While fun to drive and use, its significance should be taken no less seriously, he added. "(Compared to others,) this is more of a realistic simulator - you have to operate the clutch, brake and gas," he said. "With the drunk goggles, you do get that euphoric feeling, but you take them off and you're fine. The simulator is just like operating a vehicle on the streets except without dangers. This is what you really would see versus what you think you would see." The goal of the simulator was to further reinforce the negative side effects of drinking and driving together, Sergeant Winfield said. Hopefully along with displayed schematics of pay forfeitures, it will help Sabers make the right decisions, he added. "What we hope to achieve is really a two-fold effect with the simulator by giving them the aspect of losing a stripe and what it will cost them per beer," he said. "You can crash 300 times on the simulator and it's not a big deal - you didn't hurt anybody and just feel bad. But do it on the street and hit someone or a car and cause damage or hurt yourself, and it becomes different. Those events are what we are trying to prevent." Master Sgt. Eric Oian, 52nd Fighter Wing weapons safety manager, also attended the event and suggested an accurate and realistic display like this can effectively relay the dangers of drinking and driving to Sabers. "The simulator set up at the bazaar showed Sabers that just a few beers can impair one's ability to operate a vehicle," he said. "As expected, the number of driving errors increased with each drink that was consumed. It was a very good illustration of how alcohol can slow your reaction time and impair good judgment."