- December 13, 2025
The following is an adapted press release from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office:
The high school prom is a time for dancing and laughing with friends and, for some teenagers, a temptation to drink.
Flagler County Sheriff Donald Fleming is working to educate Flagler County teenagers on the dangers of partying with alcohol.
“Each year, across the nation, young lives are lost to drunk drivers,” Fleming said in a statement. “It takes all of us to keep our teenagers safe and educated on the dangers of mixing alcohol and vehicles.”
School Resource Deputies and Traffic Unit deputies were at Matanzas High School Friday, April 13, discussing teenage drinking with the students, many of whom have plans to attend the school’s prom.
Matanzas has scheduled its prom for May 12, at the World Golf Village, in St. Augustine. Flagler Palm Coast’s prom is set for May 11, at the Hilton Inn, in Daytona Beach.
“We want these youngsters to come home safe,” Fleming said. “Our objective is to give them tools to help them make good decisions. This program is one of them.”
More than 40 Matanzas students volunteered to take part in Friday’s lesson.
Each student began the lesson by writing a letter of apology to their parents or guardians. The letter was premised on the student having died in a vehicle crash after the student had been drinking and driving.
The teenagers were then assembled at the stadium track where each donned a pair of goggles that had been altered to replicate the vision of an impaired driver. They then took to a course, marked by warning cones, driving a specialized golf cart. The cart was wrapped in dark cloth to recreate night time driving.
Those students with cell phones gave their numbers to the SRD who then called them as they took off around the course. The simulated situation had the impaired student driving at night and talking on a cell phone.
The objective: drive the course without knocking down or running over a cone. Result: Every student made contact with at least 10 cones.
“I think this is something that has an impact on these teenagers,” said School Resource Deputy Cp. Don Apperson. “They get a good idea of how dangerous distracted or impaired driving really is, and hopefully they take it with them every time they step into a vehicle.”
