Plot

The dangers of drinking and driving are illustrated to a teenager returning from a beach party, where he had "one too many beach beers," and runs over a young mother and her child.

We're at the scene at a traffic accident: an 18-year old driver, Bill, who's had a couple of beers, has hit a mother and child crossing the street. As he waits, an off-screen narrator takes us through data about how alcohol impairs driving. The narrator, simple animated illustrations, and filmed simulations provide information about drinkers gaining assurance but losing self-control, taking chances, doing dumb things. Drinking impairs vision as well as reaction time. The narrator makes recommendations based on research. We go back to the lake where Bill was drinking with his pals. Then it's back to Bill at the scene of the accident: what's the verdict?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

The dangers of drinking and driving, especially among the young, are presented in this part dramatization where eighteen year old Bill, who just had a few beer at a beach party, has just run over two pedestrians, a young woman and her daughter, sending both to hospital. With the police on the scene, Bill has to go through the process of interrogation to see how at fault legally he is in the matter, and await news of the fate of the two hospitalized. Regardless of the legal fault issue, Bill will have to live with the fact that his alcohol consumption did play a role in what happened. The reasons people drink and facts of the physiological and psychological effects of drinking are also presented, especially as they relate to driving and most specifically to inexperienced drivers.—Huggo