Death on the Roads: Students Get Tough about Drunk Driving in Riverhead

RIVERHEAD, NY - Students are getting serious about putting the brakes against the escalating number of alcohol-related accidents and arrests on area roads.

According to the Riverhead Central School District, Students Against Destructive Decisions will host the S.T.O.P.P.E.D. program on Thursday, April 14 in the front visitors' parking lot during periods 3 and 4, from 9:45 a.m. to 10:36 a.m., and during periods 6 and 7, from 11:31 a.m. to 1:09 p.m.

S.T.O.P.P.E.D. , or Sheriffs Telling Our Parents & Promoting Educated Drivers, is aimed at reducing the number of young drivers involved in motor vehicle crashes through lectures and hands-on activities.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 3,000 drivers between the ages of 16 and 21 die as a result of car crashes.

In 2007 in Suffolk County, drivers between the ages of 16 and 20 represented 6 percent of licensed drivers — but 14 percent of that number were involved in fatal and personal injury crashes.

The second preventive aspect of the S.T.O.P.P.E.D. program is an educational component aimed at teaching young drivers the consequences of driving while under the influence of alcohol. It will be offered by specially trained sheriff’s office personnel and is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the New York State Governors Traffic Safety Committee.

The sheriff’s office will offer impairment simulated driving carts and simulated DWI impairment goggles. A member of the sheriff's office will give a presentation on driving while intoxicated laws in New York State, then, participants will drive through an obstacle course twice; once without the simulated DWI impairment goggles, and then with the goggles.

The life-altering program is recommended for youth 16 or older that are in driver’s education programs or preparing to drive in the near future, school officials said.