WILTON — Pam Bealo has high hopes that a set of goggles could one day save someone’s life. They aren’t just any goggles, they’re called Fatal Vision Goggles, and police departments often use them to simulate intoxication.

Bealo, who is president of the Wilton Lions Club, said she had read about the goggles in a magazine. She later learned that the Wilton Police Department already had an officer who was trained to demonstrate their use, but didn’t have the goggles.

“I thought it would be a really good thing to bring home to our police force,” Bealo said.

Other Lions Club members agreed, and the set of goggles were presented to the Police Department Tuesday evening. The set contains six pairs of goggles, each simulating a different level of intoxication, ranging from a blood alcohol level of just below legal limit to one of more than double the legal limit.

Bealo said if a future demonstration on how intoxication affects vision can help prevent one person from driving drunk, then the $1,400 it cost the Lions Club to purchase the goggles will have been money well spent.

“Probably 25 years ago, a person I worked with was involved in a drunk driving accident and was killed,” Bealo said. “We have a lot of children in our schools, and if this could persuade one kid to say, ‘No. I’ll be the designated driver,’ it would be worth it. Drunk driving accidents don’t just affect the person who has the accident, it affects parents, the school community, and in my case, I was a co-worker. I’ve never forgotten.”

Police Chief Brent Hautanen said he didn’t expect to be able to afford the goggles, and was excited to hear the Lions Club had decided to donate a set.

“It would have been tough to budget for this particular item given the state of the economy and town budgets the way they are,” Hautanen said. “So this was something that will be very useful that the town wouldn’t normally be able to afford to purchase.”

Hautanen said he plans to put the goggles to good use and will organize demonstrations at Wilton Lyndeborough Cooperative School.

“The goal is to give you a view of what it would be like to have your vision and balance impaired by alcohol, or drugs for that matter, without actually having to be under the influence of those substances.”

Bealo, who tested the goggles Tuesday, said they have a shocking effect.

“When you put them on, they basically skew your vision off center. I could see the line, but it was hard to coordinate my foot to reach it. Your mind is telling you to go one direction and your body is moving in another,” she said.

For next year, Bealo said she plans to look into donating a similar kit that simulates other types of dangerous distracted driving.

“The same company puts out a kit to simulate texting while driving,” Bealo said. “That’s becoming important now too.”