SCSO Urges Prom Safety This Weekend

Local authorities are urging safety this prom weekend in Stephens County.

Stephens County High School students have their annual prom on Saturday night and this past week, the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office and others went to the high school to send home the message of safety on the roadways.

Sheriff Randy Shirley said it was part of the “Arrive Alive” campaign, an initiative of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Office.

Shirley said the first part of the event was to show students the aftermath of what can happen on the roads when something goes wrong.

“They created an accident scene at the high school and it had students participating, as well as paramedics and local fire departments,” said Shirley.

After that, the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office set up its new DUI Simulator for the students at the high school to try out.

That includes a pair of DUI goggles and a special DUI impairment vehicle.

According to Shirley, the goggles simulate what it is like to be impaired from the legal limit of .08 all the way up to about .20.

Shirley said the Sheriff’s Office can use that equipment to give the students at the high school a first-hand experience as to the dangers of driving while impaired.

“What we do is set up a cone course and they drive the DUI simulator vehicle using the DUI goggles and we videotape it and show it back to them,” said Shirley. “We show them how impaired their driving is even at the .08 limit. Everyone knocks over cones. That could be a vehicle or person or so forth.”

Shirley said the goal of the “Arrive Alive” campaign is to bring awareness to the dangers of driving while impaired to students headed to proms this Spring.

“We just wanted to bring awareness and hopefully we will have a safe prom night and everyone will get to go have a good time and get home safely,” said Shirley.

The DUI impairment vehicle, goggles, and trailer were all paid for by the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office with an $11,000 grant from the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.