The class groaned and laughed as one of their peers took out a fence and went in circles as he tried to drive out of a housing development while under the influence of two drinks.

The car ended up hitting a house, and someone muttered he'd never get in a car with this guy.

But luckily, members of this Plum High School gym class weren't actually riding in a car with their classmate, and their classmate hadn't actually consumed any alcohol. But they were learning lessons as the volunteers got behind the wheel of a DUI simulator parked in the high school parking lot last week.

Most drove too fast, failed to see oncoming obstacles and misjudged space between them and another vehicle as the driving simulator took the teens from an easy car trip on a straight highway on a good day to a busy residential area with plenty of traffic and pedestrian hazards. The students got to see how coordination and driving ability change for the worse after only a few drinks.

"It showed me not to drink and drive," Mike Loew said.

The 11th-grader has his learner's permit and felt he had a lot of control of the simulated car when he first started out. But things went downhill fast.

Simulating reaction time after only two drinks, he felt the car was going "really fast," and he was losing control by the minute.

If he learned one thing it was, "always have a designated driver," Mr. Loew said.

That, and, if you're ever in a situation where a friend wants you to get in the car even after he's been drinking, don't.

"I'd probably call my parents," he said.

About 300 Plum students ranging from freshmen with no driving experience to seniors with licenses visited the DUI simulator trailer Thursday following their gym classes.

The visit was sponsored by the high school Students Against Destructive Decisions organization and was meant to discourage what SADD president Amanda Heinz said is "one of the biggest problems in the high school:" teens driving after drinking.

SADD Vice President Summer Loub said she drove the simulator at a SADD conference in Seven Springs recently and felt it was a valid way to "raise awareness."

"I think it'll have a big impact," she said.

Both teens said it doesn't take much for underage students to find an alcohol supply.

High school students most commonly get alcohol from older friends or take it from their parents' stock of alcoholic beverages.

Ms. Heinz said there also are parents who allow their children to drink at home, under the assumption the kids will drink anyway.

The simulator visits to high schools are free. The cost is covered by fines from convicted drunk drivers, said Bob Dulac, who supervises probation services for DUI offenders for the courts.

Each high school can have the simulator one time a year; 10 schools had signed up for the visit in November alone. Students in Woodland Hills got a chance to drive the simulator yesterday.

The program also provides small cars for a different version of the simulation, but SADD sponsor Missy Markiewicz said the cars limit who can participate.

Getting all high school age youngsters involved, even those who aren't yet 16, is vital, she said.

"It was strange," said one of those younger students, Alycia Turko, 14.

She hasn't had a chance to drive a real car yet and doesn't think she'd ever drink and drive.

"I'd probably wreck as it is," she said.