Increasing the awareness of the effects of drinking and driving is the purpose of the “Think…Don’t Drive and Drink” program from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. today in the Campus Cinema parking lot, 1015 Blackhawk Drive, DeKalb.

“It (the program) is an experience, not a lecture,” said Kim Fitzgerald, public relations director of the program.

The program features a modified 1989 Dodge Daytona ES with an on-board computer which can be programmed to delay the car’s steering and braking response time. This delay is equal to the slowed physical and mental response abilities of a driver under the influence of alcohol.

People can experience “drunk driving” while sober and on a safe course, Fitzgerald said. The participants first drive the course with the car unaltered by the computer. Each driver then has the opportunity to drive the course after body weight and a hypothetical number of drinks have been entered into the computer. The computer processes this information and automatically sets the timing delay on the car’s braking and steering, she said.

The course covers a 150 ft. by 200 ft. area and is marked off with orange pylon cones. The driver attempts to drive the figure-eight course without hitting the cones. Another interference for the driver is the pop-up silhouette figures that represent pedestrians.

The program will teach students and the public the effects of drinking and driving because people do not think a drunk driving accident can happen to them, said Carolyn Hackers, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers Fox Valley chapter acting coordinator.

The top cause of teenage death is drinking and driving, Hackers said. NIU and the Fox Valley Chapter of MADD are sponsoring the event.