JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- When Spc. Micah Lavigne climbed into the driver's seat May 24, he knew things weren't right. Double vision made it tough for him to read the speedometer, and his depth perception was off. Guiding the vehicle in a straight line was more difficult than usual.
"The goggles made everything confusing," he said after a short trip around the parking lot outside AFC Arena on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
He wasn't wearing beer goggles -- at least not in the typical sense. Lavigne wore an actual piece of eyewear that simulates the effects of drunkenness.
The exercise was part of the JBLM Garrison's Safety Exhibition, which occurred on the same day as I Corp's annual Safety Day. The two events happen each year before Memorial Day, the unofficial kickoff of the high-risk summer season.
"We can't put our hands on the mishaps we prevent ... but we like to think even if we prevent one, it's all worth it," I Corps Safety Director Mike Hoover said.
In addition to mandatory briefs and trainings, the day included the garrison's exhibition, which provided informational booths and activities, and I Corps events including a presentation on driving under the influence and a live band.
It was the first year that Safety Day included the live Street Smart presentation, put on by teams of firefighters and paramedics from the Stay Alive from Education program. It shows in graphic detail the effects of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, with insights from first responders. Actual photos of crash victims were displayed in slideshows while the presenters provided information and debunked myths about bad safety decisions.
"This does more than we could ever hope to do," Hoover said of the program, adding that he knows your average safety brief can be a little dry.
Still, the message is a critical one. Each year on JBLM, about 130 Soldiers, the equivalent of an entire company, die in preventable accidents, Hoover said. Last year, a platoon's number was lost to motorcycle accidents alone.
Vehicle and recreation accidents tend to peak in the "101 critical days of summer," the activity-filled period between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The timing of the events, which took place the Thursday before Memorial Day, was designed to make an impression on service members before summer even starts.
"We need each and every one of them," I Corps Command Maintenance Evaluation Team Technical Trainer Theron Smith said at the drunk driving test scenario.
Smith, who spent seven years as a Washington State Patrol Officer before coming to JBLM, took a step back to his old job that afternoon. He performed standardized field sobriety tests on service members wearing goggles that helped mimic the effects of different blood alcohol contents, anywhere from .05 to .15.
The difference was, after putting civilians and service members through the paces on the side of the road, he asked them to step into the vehicle and drive through a marked course around the parking lot.
Many participants felt they didn't do too badly at avoiding the cones -- granted, they were also going about five miles an hour in an empty lot. Even then perfect results were rare.
For Lavigne, who wore .15 BAC glasses that put him at almost twice the legal limit for his test, the experience drove home the idea that regulations are there for a reason.
Nearby, in the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Fest Tent, visitors gathered information about on-base safety resources, visited vendors selling safety products and even took a moment to watch as a hot dog in a hard hat got tangled in some power lines ... to potentially delicious results.
"They can get a better understanding of how safety fits into their personal lives," JBLM safety specialist McNeal Baptiste said. The main idea of the day was to remind people to make good risk decisions, no matter what the time of year.
"A lot of people say safety is a priority, but it's not really a priority. It's more of a value," Baptiste said.
As he pointed out, priorities shift and change. Values are unwavering.
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