Program Goals

To raise awareness in both our youth and adults regarding the importance of safe driving-- use of seat and lap belts, observance of proper speed limits, and especially the need for abstinence of alcohol and other drugs when operating motor vehicles.

Choices 301 Inc.

The Choices 301, Inc. program is now located at the Beacon of Hope Care Center, 6378 Gun Club Road, Town of Guilderland.

The program takes a multi-faceted approach aimed at educating the public about the realities and dangers of DWI, aggressive and extreme driving behavior and the failure to utilize the proper passenger restraint devices in motor vehicles.

Exhibits displayed utilize timelines of actual crashes, including personal effects and photographs of the victims as well as the vehicles involved, to depict the consequences related to an alcohol related crash. A video looped presentation stresses the need to make good, positive choices in life and to avoid mistakes made by the individuals whose lives are highlighted by the video. The exhibit also includes a mock jail cell and open coffin with a mirror at the head to suggest just how easily this could happen to any of us.

The Golf Cart is the newest addition to the Choices 301, Inc. DWI Awareness Program. One of the functions of the cart is to provide the operator with a simulated impaired driving experience. This is accomplished with the use of "Fatal Vision Goggles." The goggles allow the operator of the cart to experience the difference between normal and impaired driving conditions. Licensed operators navigate a specially designed course to test their driving skills, both with and without the Fatal Vision Goggles. The cart is equipped with a remote control devise, allowing it to be stopped in case of an emergency. Other equipment on the cart include seatbelts, headlights, directional signals, roll bar and taillights. All the equipment listed illustrates the need for safe driving practices.

The exhibits show the consequences of bad decisions….from possible jail time to death. The accidents depicted involve real, local people whose lives have either ended abruptly or been forever changed by driving while intoxicated, speed and/or aggressive driving.

Among other things, CHOICES 301, Inc. works in conjunction with the Albany County STOP-DWI Program to share this valuable awareness program with the high schools and colleges in the capital region in an effort to decrease the likelihood that our youth will make poor decisions that can have lifelong consequences.

The exhibit is open to the general public. For more information, please call Ed Frank @ 423-8426 or E-mail EdFrankChoices@nycap.rr.com.