Drunk Driving Prevention Ideas: 5 Ways to Promote Safe Driving in An Alcohol Awareness Program

Use these tips to get your message about the dangers of drunk driving across.

It doesn’t matter if you are teaching children, adolescents, or adults about the dangers of drunk driving — driving while under the influence of alcohol is a serious topic with severe consequences.

But how can you reach your audience to effectively demonstrate the dangers of drunk driving? And what creative and impactful drunk driving prevention ideas can you incorporate into your curriculum to drive the lesson home? 

We’ve put together a list of five drunk driving prevention ideas you can use in your educational program:

1. Knowing your audience
2. Hands-on activities to engage your classroom
3. Interactive online lessons
4. Statistics and how they apply
5. Incorporate simulated situations

Read on to learn more about these drunk driving prevention tips. 

Knowing your audience

Whether you are teaching young children, teens about to start driving, or adults, take special care to understand how to engage your audience. Young children can have short attention spans and limited understanding. Teens can be ready to learn but have difficulty grasping the severity of the subject or think they don’t have to worry about it yet. Adult participants may have never experienced the dangers of drunk driving firsthand. Strategize to find the teaching tools that will speak directly to your audience, their questions, and their learning styles. 

Hands-on activities to engage your classroom

While some students are great learners just by listening, you can emphasize a critical point by bringing opportunities for participation into the classroom. For example, one standout drunk driving prevention idea is to use Fatal Vision® Impairment Goggles and ask the students to try out a simple task or sobriety test. You can also use the Danger in Every Step (DIES) Activity Mats to demonstrate how difficult it can be to follow a path when experiencing the effects of alcohol impairment.

Interactive online lessons

Find lessons and materials online that can help you illustrate the importance of safe driving. These can include short brochures that students can take home and blogs written by peers if you are teaching high school or college students. Finally, you can find tips to pass out to parents on continuing conversations about drunk driving awareness with their children. Look to these lessons to supplement your drunk driving prevention ideas. 

The online Plan My Ride Driver Skill Building and Crash Prevention Program can also effectively illustrate the skills teen drivers need to keep themselves and their passengers safe in a variety of scenarios, including when alcohol impairment is involved.

Statistics and how they apply

Incorporating facts or statistics into your drunk driving prevention program can help illustrate to participants just how serious the consequences are. Statistics like those shared in this Fatal Vision® blog post are often startling but are fantastic to show just how dangerous drinking and driving can be.

Incorporate simulated situations

Simulated driving scenarios can help give your drunk driving program participants valuable, hands-on lessons safely and securely. One memorable drunk driving prevention idea is to use the Simulated Impaired Driving Experience (SIDNE®) vehicles or Fatal Vision® Roadster Pedal Kart along with alcohol impairment goggles. These simulators allow participants to navigate a vehicle while experiencing the effects of alcohol impairment and demonstrate the dangers of operating a machine without having complete control. 

You can teach an exciting and engaging alcohol awareness program when you have these drunk driving prevention ideas at your disposal. You’ll appeal to participants’ visual and active learning by simulating the effects of drunk driving, and give them a memorable and hands-on experience that will stick with them well after your program is done. 

Check out all of our alcohol awareness program materials on our website, and get more ideas on how to keep students engaged in the Fatal Vision® blog!