By Evan Skilliter
Special to The Icon

Bluffton safety services, with the Allen County Sheriff's Office and Bluffton and Allen East High Schools talked safety on Friday night to a captive audience.

The presentation was during the Bluffton - Allen East boys' varsity basketball game halftime.

Emphasizing the importance of traffic safety and reducing injuries through the use of safety belts and avoiding impaired driving was the safety theme.

Bluffton Police Chief, Rick Skilliter, in charge of the presentation said, "The idea came from a planning meeting that was held in Lima late last year. They spoke about Allen County having a goal of 85 percent safety belt usage."

"At that point, Bluffton had an 82 percent seat belt usage rate. In addition to trying to keep our youth safe on the road, we wanted to keep everyone safe on the road," he said.

After contemplating venues to use for the presentation, Skilliter and the police department decided that a basketball game would be the best option.

Presenters with Skilliter were Bluffton's Fire Chief, Jon Kinn, EMS Chief, Jan Basinger, Allen County Sheriff Sam Crish, and Bluffton High School Guidance Counselor, Gordon Shively.

During the presentation, Sheriff Crish shared some stats. "Every fifth person in this room will be involved in some sort of traffic crash this year," he said. "While more than 90 percent of all motorists believe safety belts are a good idea, less than 14 percent actually use them every time they drive."

After Chief Kinn shared the importance of not texting while driving, Chief Skilliter warned students and parents about teen drinking and driving.

Skilliter said, "An average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before their first arrest... One in three eighth graders drinks alcohol. One in five teens binge drink, while only one in 100 parents believe his or her teen binge drinks."

Bluffton Principal Mike Minnig, Allen East Principal Keith Baumgartner, Bluffton SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) member Anna Crisp, and Allen East SADD member Emily Allen demonstrated the effect of alcohol by attempting three-point shots while wearing goggles that simulate a person who has a blood alcohol content ranging from .07 to .15.

Basketballs were shot everywhere, but the direction they were intended, as none of the participants shot close to their target.

Sheriff Crish concluded the presentation, saying, "Please don't drive drunk or allow another person to drive impaired. You always know when you're going to need the safety belt, that's every time a vehicle is in motion."

"We are going to be on our game, so you never know when we'll be watching you. It's likely to be everywhere, every time," he said.

Following the game, students from both schools were invited to a party planned by the SADD groups of each high school. Aside from activities like dodge ball, playing cards, and playing video games, Bluffton Police gave students the opportunity to try on the goggles used in the presentation to see what effects alcohol can have.

While wearing the goggles, students were put through sobriety tests routinely used by police, such as picking up a coin from the ground, standing on one foot and counting to 10, and walking in a straight line.

Few were successful, and according to Chief Skilliter, if it were a real test, none of them would have passed.

"Our goal was to reach out to the young drivers, as well as seasoned drivers, to encourage them to wear their safety belts whenever they travel," said Skilliter.

"We have a lot of folks that say, 'We're only driving to the store or we're only driving to wherever.' They think they don't need to wear their safety belt because they aren't traveling at a high speed. We want people to wear their seatbelts every time."

gave a presentation at halftime of the Bluffton vs. Allen East high school boys' basketball game in Bluffton, emphasizing the importance of traffic safety and reducing injuries through the use of safety belts and avoiding impaired driving.

Bluffton Police Chief, Rick Skilliter, was in charge of the presentation. Skilliter said, "The idea came from a planning meeting that was held in Lima late last year. They spoke about Allen County having a goal of 85 percent safety belt usage.

At that point, Bluffton had an 82 percent seat belt usage rate. In addition to trying to keep our youth safe on the road, we wanted to keep everyone safe on the road."

After contemplating venues to use for the presentation, Chief Skilliter and the Police Department decided that a basketball game would be the best option.

Other than Skilliter, presenters included Bluffton's Fire Chief, Jon Kinn, EMS Chief, Jan Basinger, Allen County Sheriff, Sam Crish, and Bluffton High School Guidance Counselor, Gordon Shively.

During the presentation, Sheriff Crish shared some stats. "Every fifth person in this room will be involved in some sort of traffic crash this year," he said. "While more than 90 percent of all motorists believe safety belts are a good idea, less than 14 percent actually use them every time they drive."

After Chief Kinn shared the importance of not texting while driving, Chief Skilliter warned students and parents about teen drinking and driving.

Skilliter said, "An average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before their first arrest... One in three eighth graders drinks alcohol. One in five teens binge drink, while only 1 in 100 parents believe his or her teen binge drinks."

Bluffton Principal Mike Minnig, Allen East Principal Keith Bumgartner, Bluffton SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) member Anna Crisp, and Allen East SADD member Emily Allen demonstrated the effect of alcohol by attempting three-point shots while wearing goggles that simulate a person who has a blood alcohol content ranging from .07 to .15.

Basketballs were shot everywhere but the direction they were intended, as none of the participants shot close to their target.

Sheriff Crish concluded the presentation, saying, "Please don't drive drunk or allow another person to drive impaired. You always know when you're going to need the safety belt, that's every time a vehicle is in motion. We are going to be on our game, so you never know when we'll be watching you. It's likely to be everywhere, every time."

After the game, students from both schools were invited to a party planned by the SADD groups of each high school.

Aside from activities like dodge ball, playing cards, and playing video games, Bluffton Police gave students the opportunity to try on the goggles used in the presentation to see what effects alcohol can have.

While wearing the goggles, students were put through sobriety tests routinely used by police, such as picking up a coin from the ground, standing on one foot and counting to ten, and walking in a straight line. Not many students were successful, and according to Chief Skilliter, if it were a real test, none of them would have passed.

"Our goal was to reach out to the young drivers, as well as seasoned drivers, to encourage them to wear their safety belts whenever they travel," said Skilliter. "We have a lot of folks that say, 'We're only driving to the store or we're only driving to wherever.' They think they don't need to wear their safety belt because they aren't traveling at a high speed. We want people to wear their seatbelts every time."