Sunapee students learn dangers of impaired driving during alcohol awareness week

Students at Sunapee Middle High School got a hands-on lesson in impaired driving this spring, stepping into an obstacle course with impairment-simulation goggles and passing a crashed vehicle display outside the building all week. The weeklong effort, held April 20 through April 24, paired Sunapee Police Department officers with school health staff to make alcohol awareness feel immediate and real.

Lieutenant Timothy Puchtler and Health Educator Alyssa Krause led the classroom lessons, which focused on decision-making, the physical effects of alcohol and the consequences of getting behind the wheel while impaired. The school described the program as real-world education, and the most memorable part for many students was the obstacle course, which showed how slowed reaction time and poor coordination can scramble judgment even before a car ever moves.

The visual warning outside school added another layer. A crashed vehicle sat on display for the entire week, with help from Patten’s Auto & Truck Works. For middle and high school students, the wrecked car gave the message a harder edge than a lecture could: one bad decision can end in a scene that is hard to forget.

The lesson carried added weight because the risk is not abstract. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says 11,904 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths in 2024, and about 32 people die every day in drunk-driving crashes across the United States. The agency also says alcohol reduces brain function, affecting thinking, reasoning and muscle coordination.

Teen drivers face their own added risks. Traffic Safety Marketing lists alcohol and drug use, not wearing a seat belt, distracted driving, additional passengers, speeding and drowsy driving among the factors that can push young drivers toward tragedy. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation says adolescent drivers ages 15 to 20 are disproportionately represented in motor vehicle crashes, a reminder that inexperience behind the wheel can combine with risky choices in dangerous ways.

Sunapee’s effort also reached beyond the classroom. In April 2026, students Azlyn, Chloe, Xing Tua, Avery Miller and Vaelyn Bell discussed peer pressure, alcohol marketing and what they took from the project. For a town focused on prevention, the message was straightforward: trusted adults, clear information and a lesson students can see and feel may help shape safer choices before the next party, the next ride home or the next summer weekend.