Kansas University student Hassana Samassekou, Bamako, Mali, reacts as he experiences the simulated difficulties of operating a vehicle while intoxicated during a demonstration by the Save A Life Tour on Tuesday at the Kansas Union. Standing from left are Oscar Perry, who operates the simulator and educates participants for the tour, Austin Haugh, Olathe freshman, and Yuri Rapp, St. Louis senior.

Kansas University is continuing its effort to educate students on alcohol awareness.

On Tuesday, the National Save A Life Tour stopped on campus to warn students about the dangers of drinking and driving. The program uses multimedia and interactive tools to deliver a sobering message: Drunken driving kills.

“We’re giving them a sober perspective of what it is actually like to be drinking and driving so they can carry that vision with them,” said Save A Life Tour guide Oscar Perry.

The group travels across the country to high schools and college campuses. Its high-impact and sometimes graphic displays drive home the point that just one drink can lead to a fatal accident.

“Our display is actually for the shock value,” Perry said. “We have a casket that says ‘this is reserved for the next victim of drinking and driving,’ because drinking and driving does kill.”

For KU students, the dangers of alcohol consumption are an all too familiar reality. In 2009, the university lost two students in alcohol-related deaths, making alcohol awareness a top priority for campus officials.

“It’s important to have different reoccurring programs that are going to bring different kinds of people in to get the message across,” said Jenny McKee, a health educator in the university’s Wellness Resource Center.

The program’s main attraction is a multi-million dollar drunken driving simulator. It looks like a video game, but organizers said it helps dispel the myth that someone can be a good drunken driver. As the student drives, his or her blood alcohol concentration increases, eventually surpassing the legal limit.

McKee said students were surprised at how poorly they performed. “For a lot of people who may have just only had a couple of drinks and then chose to drive, they did not realize how impactful even a low blood-alcohol level can have,” she said.

For some students the consequences of drinking and driving hit close to home. Three years ago KU senior Ashley DeSandre lost a friend to a drunken driver.

“It’s just awful to hear that students go out and drink and party and drive and just don’t find it a big deal,” she said.

DeSandre said she’s happy to share her story if it prevents one of her peers from making a bad decision.

“It’s important that they get involved in this so they can see that those parties at night, going out to the bars, those one, maybe two, drinks can have a huge impact when you’re driving.”