On Jan. 15, the Class of 2025 gathered together in the Pembroke Pines Charter auditorium to prepare for the annual Driving Under the Influence (DUI) event in which seniors would be exposed to the realities of drinking and driving. To begin the day, seniors started filling up the room in preparation for the day’s presentation.
Principal Peter Bayer opened with welcoming remarks and Resource Service Officer (SRO) Officer William Bucknam introduced guest speaker Chief Jose Vargas to speak about the dangers of drinking and driving and the way these fatalities can be prevented.
“Think of someone you love and how it would feel if you lost that person or how that person would feel if they lost you,” was a thought-provoking statement made by Chief Vargas who left the audience in deep consideration.
Chief Vargas not only spoke intently on the importance of driving sober but provided staggering statistics that revealed the truly devastating reality of automobile deaths and accidents. There are 37 deaths every day, one every 39 minutes, and 13,000 a year. A statistic that Chief Vargas declares “entirely unavoidable.”
Bringing these statistics to life, the presentation transitioned into a powerful video reenactment of a real case involving a high school student, Matthew Malkowski. It depicted a group of high school students pre-gaming and drinking before a football game, their night however takes a horrifying turn when they decide to drive under the influence.
The crash left two innocent and promising high schoolers dead and another with lifelong brain trauma. The driver, once full of potential, was sentenced to 40 years in prison, leaving families and friends devastated with no choice but to grieve the lives lost and the futures that were stolen.
For the seniors, this reenactment was a powerful reminder of how one reckless decision can change lives forever. With prom, graduation, and college on the horizon, the video served as a call to be cautious. It urged seniors to think twice and make choices that protect the lives of not only themselves but others.
After the assembly ended, Group A, which was half of the senior class, was escorted to the field and had an hour total to go through the four stations that were each aided by local Pembroke Pines policemen. When the hour was up, Group B was then released to the field to complete the stations.
‘Walk the Line’ was the name of the first station in which students wore fatal vision drunk goggles meant to simulate the consciousness of a person under the influence. Pembroke Pines Charter is one of only a handful of schools in the southern United States allowed this experience.
Students were tasked to walk in a straight line, mimicking what would happen at a real DUI traffic stop. The station put into perspective the difficulty of performing such a simple task while under the influence, with the aim of deterring students and showing how quickly alcohol can affect their ability to function.
At the ‘Finger to the Nose and Balance’ station, students were tasked with running to touch the nose of a cone and then subsequently balancing a ball on another cone, using the goggles to simulate being impaired. This made several students realize the extent to which motor control can be affected. For senior Nicolas Rodriguez, “the exercise put it all into perspective for [him].” Thus, his biggest takeaway from the event was simply “to not drink and drive.”
The ‘Catch the ball’ station followed, where students were tasked with catching a ball while the fatal vision goggles also distorted their vision. Here, students saw the impact of alcohol on reaction time and coordination.
Lastly, the most anticipated event was the driving course in which students had the opportunity to drive a PPCHS golf cart alongside a police officer. Bright orange cones were carefully placed in narrow curved paths to challenge the student drivers as they made their way through.
As each student made their way to the end of the course, they turned back around to drive to the starting point. The catch was that this time they would be wearing the fatal vision drunk goggles.
The difference was clear — those who drove completely sober had a significantly easier time driving within the cones and clearing the path without major struggles. However, once driving with the impaired goggles, many quickly lost control of their golf cart swerving into the cones and taking a much longer time to finish the course.
“When I was driving with the goggles on, it definitely was something I didn’t expect. Those goggles didn’t allow me to see anything straight, so it was extremely hard to drive the golf cart normally. This small demonstration really put into perspective how dangerous it is to drink and drive,” senior Ava Mendez expresses.
As the day came to a close, the hope was that the event went beyond just a series of fun events. By stepping into the shoes of an intoxicated person, seniors experienced firsthand how being under the influence strips away the basic skills needed to protect themselves and others on the road.
“I believe that the major impact that they receive is doing the exercises that really shows how much alcohol, or drugs impair their ability to do simple things like catching a ball, walking in a single line, bending down to pick up something, or driving a car. It really does show them ‘wow, this is what impairment is like,” Officer Bucknam explained.
Now, it’s up to the Class of 2025 to take what they’ve learned and apply it. Whether it’s calling a ride, taking a friend’s keys, or simply saying no, the day was a reminder that their actions can save lives.
