Booze, Cruise & You'll Lose

Cameron High School Students Get Serious About Impaired Driving

March 13, 2007

On Tuesday afternoon, more than 100 juniors and seniors at Cameron High School learned firsthand about the consequences of impaired driving from participants of the Booze and Cruise, You’ll Lose program. The sponsors of the program include Gold, Khourey & Turak, the West Virginia State Police, the Wheeling Nailers, and WTOV TV 9.

Christopher Turak, an attorney with the law firm of Gold, Khourey & Turak and also the program’s coordinator, encouraged the students to use this opportunity to ask questions. “We are not here to talk to you about statistics, or to show you photos,” explained Turak. “Instead, we are going to focus on the law and talk about how the law relates to certain situations you face as young adults and any answer questions you may have.”

Brendan Burke, the “Voice of the Nailers,” served as the emcee of the program. Burke went out into the audience with the Booze Buster Quiz searching for volunteers to answer questions about impaired driving and the law. Completing the quiz is a prerequisite to attending the program. Students who participated and answered the questions correctly were awarded a either a t-shirt or tickets to a Wheeling Nailers game. Rich Colwill, a member of the Wheeling Nailers, was on hand to deliver prizes to the students who participated.

Cpl. Jason Laing, a 13-year veteran of the West Virginia State Police, teamed with Turak to further explain each answer taken from the quiz and any follow up questions from the students. Laing is a former runner-up in the state Trooper of the Year, and former president of the board of the Troopers Association.

“Most teenagers, and most adults for that matter, don’t realize you can be arrested for D.U.I. without having a drop of alcohol or other drugs in your system. In fact, you don’t even have to be in the car,” said Turak. “If you give your keys to someone you know to be intoxicated or under the influence, you too can be charged for D.U.I. even though you may not even be near the vehicle. This is called permitting D.U.I., and the penalties are just as serious if you were pulled over for D.U.I.”

Cpl. Laing discussed the procedures of breathilyzer test in some detail, then talked about how most D.U.I. arrests occur. “Believe it or not, most D.U.I. arrests start out as minor traffic violations, such as speeding or a taillight is out, then once we smell alcohol, our attention shifts to a possible D.U.I.” Laing then selected student Andrew Cunningham to participate in a mock D.U.I. arrest. With the use of “Fatal Vision Goggles”, Cunningham was able to simulate 0.10 intoxication and was taken through a number of field sobriety tests, including the one-legged stand and heal-to-toe tests. Cunningham, a starter on the Cameron football team this past season, performed poorly on the tests and was placed “under arrest” and handcuffed by Laing in front of his friends.

At the conclusion of the program, student Stacie Stoneking was recognized for her efforts on the Booze Buster Quiz. Stoneking was presented with a t-shirt, tickets to an upcoming Wheeling Nailers game, and a game-used autographed hockey stick from the Nailers.

The Booze and Cruise, You’ll Lose program is sponsored by the law offices of Gold, Khourey & Turak, the West Virginia State Police, WTOV 9, and the Wheeling Nailers. For more information on the program, contact the law offices of Gold, Khourey & Turak at (304) 845-9750.