Airmen Against Drunk Driving hosted a Street Smart presentation at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, May 8, 2023.

The event aimed to remind Airmen of the negative effects of driving under the influence, distracted driving, not wearing a seatbelt and the services AADD offers.

“Real life comes at you quick,” said Tech. Sgt. Edward Burden, 23rd Civil Engineer Squadron service contracts noncommissioned officer in charge and Airmen Against Drunk Driving president. “The consequences and aftereffects of being in a car accident, the trauma you face personally and the trauma your family members face … for one person to make a bad decision, it affects multiple people.”

Traveling to schools, military bases and various other organizations, the Stay Alive From Education team, a non-profit organization made up of firefighters and paramedics, use their real-world experiences to highlight the repercussions and seriousness of choices made behind the wheel.

“There have been a couple of calls I’ve been on that were very traumatic,” said Austin Beamer, Tampa firefighter paramedic and Street Smart presenter, “But they ended up changing my mind completely about how things work, how we operate, how bad it can really be and how (these accidents) can be easily avoided.”

While no one may wake up and think it’s the day they would be involved in an accident, Beamer hopes Airmen walk away with a different perspective after the presentation.

According to the Street Smart team, sending or reading a text takes someone’s eyes off the road for 4.6 seconds. At 55 mph, that's equivalent to driving the length of an entire football field – blindfolded.

“It's a selfish act. Nobody thinks about it because when they look down, they see a text message from their wife, their husband, whoever it is, it's important we get it,” Beamer said, “But because of that, it can cause a laundry list of problems for everyone else.”

The Street Smart team hopes their one-hour presentation brings light to the life-altering consequences choices made while driving can have while also giving Airmen an awareness of the power of change they have by simply taking the extra steps to have a plan.

“If we just put the phone away, if we just wear the seatbelt,” Beamer added, “How different these scenarios (accidents) would’ve been.”

For DoD cardholders who need a safe ride home, call Team Moody’s Airmen Against Drunk Driving at 229-25-SOBER (229-257-6237), available on Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. For more information on the Street Smart program, visit Safeprogram.com