Beale provides cautionary driving instruction for Airmen Published March 30, 2016 By Senior Airman Ramon A. Adelan 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, California -- Beale's safety office spread awareness of the dangers of distracted driving to the base populace with the assistance of the Arrive Alive Tour March 28-29, 2016, at Beale Air Force Base, California. The Arrive Alive Tour provided a demonstration, which gave Airmen the opportunity to experience the realistic effects of driving under the influence, and texting while operating a vehicle. “The demonstration consists of our vehicle equipped with sensors applied to the steering wheel, tires and the gas and brake pedals, which volunteers have the opportunity to operate using a 3-D virtual-reality headset,” said Storn Olson, Arrive Alive Tour driving safety instructor. “We run two programs for the participants, a drinking and driving simulation and a texting while driving simulation.” The simulations put Airmen in a virtual community, which included traffic, people and street lights. The DUI program gave the user a slight delay in the controls to emulate being under the influence. The texting program functioned normally, as the user tried to send a text while operating the vehicle. “The demonstration shows you, in a split second, how quick it takes to either hurt yourself or someone else,” said Airman 1st Class Jessica Fox, 9th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron U-2 Dragon Lady crew chief. According to the California Highway Patrol’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, in 2014, 3,096 people were killed in traffic collisions, 1,145 had alcohol involved and 741 victims were killed by a driver under the influence. “Our end goal is to decline the amount of mishaps, which occur from distracted driving and the demonstration was a proactive and preventative awareness opportunity for Team Beale,” said Staff Sgt. Rich Taylor, 9th Reconnaissance Wing Safety Office occupational safety specialist.