Street Smart Shows Danger of Unsafe Driving

Team Lee members learned the dangers of drinking and driving and not wearing a seat belt, among other driving mistakes, in a series of presentations sponsored by the Fort Lee Safety Office.

Scott Neusch and Joe McCluan, of Florida SAFE Inc., Orlando chapter, performed Street Smart March 3-5 to hundreds of Soldiers, Marines and Civilians. "We do this throughout the year for high schools, colleges and military. We give unique information from our perspective as firefighters and paramedics to show folks what we have to deal with on a daily basis in regards to drinking and driving incidents, people not wearing seat belts, or people just riding home with someone who has been drinking or doing drugs," said Neusch. "It gives them a first hand look at what we have to do to save their lives. When the presentation is over, the goal is to let them make their own informed choice."

There are 10 members of Florida SAFE who travel the nation, and even overseas, to bring the presentation to schools and military installations. The program has been in effect for nearly two decades, and strives to present the information in a way to capture their audience's attention.

After a brief introduction and video, McCluan and Neusch took turns giving commentary and showing graphic pictures of the deadly consequences for the various reasons of not wearing a seat belt.

Whether the excuse is "It's only a few blocks" or "It'll wrinkle my uniform," the duo showed a powerful insight to why these excuses could leave one dead or seriously injured.

They ended the show with a visual few would soon forget.

The pair demonstrated with a volunteer from the audience actions emergency technicians would take to save one's life after being involved in a serious vehicle accident.

Spc. Dwight Barlow, a mortuary affairs specialist in 54th Quartermaster Company, 240th QM Battalion, 49th QM Group, was one of those volunteers.

Barlow said the experience wasn't much fun, especially being tied to a stretcher and not being able to move or see anything. But that was the point, and the message was clear.

"It was a great presentation," Barlow said. "We learned that it is definitely important to wear seat belts, and accidents can greatly affect not only yourself and your body, but also Family and friends around you."

While there's no guarantee that everyone will take the message to heart, Neusch said the feedback is promising.

"We get a lot of positive feedback, we find that not only are the people watching the program getting the information, they are distributing the information to Family and friends so it's effective in that they are getting the information and they are passing it over to their Family members," he said.

By Amy Perry | Staff Writer | Fort Lee Traveller