A coffin and drunk-driving simulator filled the University Union Ballroom as part of National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week.

Save a Life Tour, an alcohol education program at Sacramento State, and Peer Health Educators on campus helped to bring the one-of-a-kind DUI experience to campus last week.

The high-impact alcohol awareness program aims to show a sober person how alcohol affects them if they get behind the wheel, said Melissa Sutton, the tour assistant.

Sutton and her brother, Brian Beldyga, senior manager, travel all over the country with the simulator showing students the reality and consequences of drinking and driving.

“This is not a video game,” Sutton said. “Video games usually have a goal, and at the end you either win or lose. This simulator is to show everyone the horrible things that can happen if you get behind the wheel of a car drunk.”

Sarah Henshaw, the student manager for Peer Health Educators, said the goal is to promote responsible decisions among students through a harm reduction program.

“We want students to understand drinking and driving and how it effects them and others,” Henshaw said.

The simulator demonstrates alcohol’s effect on vision, reaction time and hand-eye coordination while driving.

The residence halls paid for the room reservations and insurance company AAA paid for the simulator to come to campus. Sutton said that most car insurance companies are eager to sponsor this program.

Beldyga was instrumental in getting the tour off the ground.

“It’s evolved over four years into what I think is a very effective program,” Beldyga said.Beldyga helped start the programs after he lost someone close to him in an alcohol related accident.

“Every year we go through case studies full of surveys and statistics looking for new ideas to help better the project,” Beldyga said.

Beldyga and Sutton have been on the road since Aug. 26 and the tour will end on Dec. 1. Sutton said they visit three to six schools a week depending on their schedules.

“It was great; we had a line out the door all day long,” Henshaw said.

Elizabeth Wilson can be reached at [email protected]