A bad view
Goggles part of program to show teens the dangers of driving under the influence
Yuma teens soon won’t have to be drunk to know how it is to drive drunk. Thanks to a $10,000 grant from State Farm, the Yuma Police Department will have “drunk goggles,” which mimic the experience of being under the influence of alcohol, from slightly inebriated to totally wasted.
“This is kind of an exciting opportunity for the police department,” Police Chief John Lekan told the city council on Feb. 21, when the insurance company presented the grant to the department.
Lekan said both State Farm agent Cathy Nuetzi and Sgt. Lori Franklin were instrumental in funding the “really exciting new program that is getting ready to be launched off.”
The program’s aim is “protecting one of our most precious resources, and that’s going to be our teenage drivers, our new drivers, our new upand-coming teenage drivers,” Lekan said.
Franklin first became aware of the program when she received a brochure last fall from Drunk Busters, which makes the drunk goggles.
“I saw this as a beautiful opportunity,” Franklin explained. “If we could deploy these to our schools and we can get these in the hands of our teenagers and hit them hard with this before they actually get their driving permits and start driving, what an opportunity we have to make a difference within our community.”
The program includes steering wheels and pedal carts that teens can drive while wearing the goggles, which are also available for simulating driving under the influence of marijuana and drugs.
However, the police department needed to find funding to cover the cost. “So we decided let’s try where it would hit hard — insurance companies,” Franklin said.
The first person to be approached was Nuetzi, who sent the request to the State Farm corporate office in Colorado. Soon Franklin got a call about the proposal from Colorado. State Farm then asked if the department could use more money than it had requested.
The grant came through, and with the $10,000, the department will buy the Drunk Buster goggles, peddle carts and trailers to carry the equipment to local high schools and events, “but mainly high schools because we want to impact the teenagers. We want them to see what it’s like to drive under the influence to stop them from doing it when they get older.”
Nuetzi said it was a “tremendous opportunity to be here on behalf of State Farm and also as a local agent here. I have been here 15 years, and I’m just honored to be a part of this and present this to the Yuma Police Department.”
Mayor Doug Nicholls also expressed appreciation for the donation. “State Farm has always been a great partner in the community. And for all the other events you’ve helped out with too, thank you very much for everything State Farm does in the Yuma area.”