BOSTON -- Prom season is under way, and a lot of teenagers will be on the roads celebrating the end of the school year.

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported Tuesday that statistics show alcohol related crashes increase nearly every weekend during prom season. That's why Massachusetts General Hospital is giving teens a chance to see what it's like to drive drunk -- without actually being drunk.

The hospital's trauma center put the high-tech simulator on display at the North Shore Mall in hopes that fewer teens will drink and drive and end up in the emergency room.

"Teenagers think they're invincible like some adults do, as well, and we're trying to get the message through to high school kids that drunk driving is no joke," Massachusetts General Hospital Trauma Center's Sandy Muse said.

The simulator recreates the front seat of a car, moving along with any bumps in the road and giving the driver a 225-degree field of vision.

"You start out sober, and it increases your alcohol level and your steering becomes harder, the breaking is harder and then it's difficult to drive while you're intoxicated," said Laurie Petrorick, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Trauma Center.

The lesson isn't new for some kids who've seen the damage drinking and driving can do first hand.

"I have seen a few of my friends drink and drive, and they have gotten in accidents," said Pete DeWitt, 16.

"A guy that used to go to our school, he was actually killed," said Tim Chapman, 18.

Some teens don't appear to be getting the message. The number of Massachusetts teens killed in alcohol related traffic accidents continues to rise from 28 in 2000 to 44 in 2003.

"I think I am going to do pretty good because I've got fast reactions," said Jason Haselgard, 17.

Haselgard considers himself a safe driver. But when the simulator increased his alcohol level, he ran a stop sign and crashed into another car.

"It was a little more difficult. The brake pedal was a little more stiff and without power steering the response times were a little harder. You crash once, you're done. In a video game you crash, you keep on going, so it makes me really think," he said.

The drunk driving simulator will be on display again Wednesday at the North Shore Mall in Peabody.