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Penn State Wilkes-Barre to host Zombie 5K Saturday

WILKES-BARRE &#8212;Havi Rodriguez wanted a picture with his buddy Dave Bernhart, so he slipped into the classic arm-around-the-shoulder pose, grinning at the camera. Someone reminded Rodriguez that Bernhart had just crashed the car in which they were riding, paralyzing Rodriguez for life.&#8220;That&#8217;s right!&#8221; Rodriguez laughed, promptly curling into a contorted, non-smiling posture.Both had taken a crack at the &#8220;distracted driving&#8221; simulation set up at the Henry Student Center at Wilkes University, and Bernhart had crashed into another computer screen car, getting sentenced to 23 months prison.&#8220;You got 23 months because that keeps you in a county prison,&#8221; Lehigh Valley Health Network Trauma Prevention Coordinator Bill McQuilken told Bernhart. &#8220;If they give you 24 months, you automatically go to a state prison.Bernhart and Rodriguez both agreed that driving the simulator while texting was harder than they expected. &#8220;I don&#8217;t text while I&#8217;m driving,&#8221; Rodriguez insisted. Then after a short pause, conceded, &#8220;Well, make that rarely.&#8221;After Bernhart left the hot seat junior Morgan Galluzzo took a turn, opting for the impaired driving simulation, and crashed in about four seconds, evoking laughs from fellow students watching.&#8220;Why were you driving drunk?&#8221; one friend said.&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; Galluzzo said with another laugh.The simulations include encounters with arresting officers, judges and even potential future employers. As an on-screen trooper conducted a field sobriety test by moving a pen back and forth and asking her to track it with her eyes, the pen blurred.&#8220;I am so drunk right now!&#8221; Galluzzo said.McQuilken told her the employer segment is included because a DUI conviction can preclude getting hired in some fields. Galluzzo said she is planning a career in public relations, and shrugged off that concern with a laugh.Do the simulations do any good? The students answer a short survey before and after the program, and McQuilken said last year the number of students saying they would wear seat belts increased by 13 percent between the two surveys.Students are also often surprised at the sentences imposed by judges. &#8220;It&#8217;s longer than they expected,&#8221; McQuilken said.Not Galluzzo, though; sentenced to three months prison, she offered an opinion: &#8220;Only 90 days? That&#8217;s not bad.&#8221;Of course, in this case they were simulated days.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Mark Guydishmguydish@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes University simulator replicates the consequences of distracted driving