Trooper visits GR classes

Students at the Green River High School learned how the effects of alcohol can impair their driving and why texting and driving is so dangerous.

On Monday and Tuesday, Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers visited with students about common infractions students receive; and he explained how even the smallest amount of alcohol can change a person’s life.

“You can have two drinks and be over the limit,” Trooper Mitch Kannier said. “No matter how old you are If you are not used to alcohol, it’s going to hit you.”

He said no matter how much the suspect tries to fool a trooper, their eyes will always tell the truth.

Kannier also wanted to caution students about trying things to sway breathalyzers. He said none of that stuff works; and some is just downright disgusting.

For example: some people have put change in their mouths to try and fool the breathalyzer. Not only does it not work, but it is gross, he said.

“Do you know where that penny has been?” Kannier said.

Probably on the bathroom floor in urine of feces, he told them. Just don’t do it.

Kannier also wanted to caution the students about designated drivers. He said in some cases, the designated driver is more drunk than anyone else in the car. He asked the students why they thought that was the case.

“Is it fun being in a car full of drunk people?” Kannier said. “I stop more designated driver’s that are drunk than sober.”

Kannier told the students they are not fooling anybody with their bonfires on Blue Rim Road and White Mountain.

“Who can see a bonfire on White Mountain?” Kannier asked. “Everyone in Sweetwater County.”

He said the troopers know all of the kids’ hangouts and just wait for them to come down the road.

“If you are drinking and driving I will throw the book at you,” he said.

As for texting and driving, there is nothing more obvious, he said. A person texting is always glancing down and then back up.

“No one’s crotch is that interesting,” he said.

The biggest excuse he hears from the alleged texter is that they were messing around with the radio. The radio controls are not on the seat, Kannier said. He said texting in driving is probably the most common, but the hardest to prove. However, just because it is hard to prove doesn’t mean a trooper will not find another violation, such as failure to maintain a single lane of travel, which is difficult while texting.

Before the class was dismissed, Kannier reminded the students to remember what they learned in class especially with graduation parties taking place this weekend.