DUI simulator to be set up at Mountainlair

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In the U.S., alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes kill someone every 31 minutes and injure someone every two minutes. To show people the dangers of drinking and driving, the West Virginia University Department of Community Medicine will have a simulator set up from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 13 in front of the Mountainlair.

“The DUI simulator is a virtual reality experience of the dangers of driving while impaired,” Ruth Kershner, Ed.D., professor in the department of Community Medicine and alcohol educator for the WVU School of Medicine, said. “In 2008, alcohol was a mitigating factor in 37 percent of the traffic fatalities that occurred in West Virginia. We want to make sure our students and those in the Morgantown community don’t become part of those statistics.”

In addition to the Department of Community Medicine, support for the DUI simulator is provided by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, the Pennsylvania DUI Association and the State Farm Insurance Office of Parker Hall. Students from the department of Community Medicine and the WVU School of Nursing are volunteering their time to help run the simulator.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information on the simulator see http://padui.org/sim_tx.htm.

For more information on the WVU Department of Community Medicine see www.hsc.wvu.edu/som/cmed.