Mock DUI Wreck Opens Pennsylvania Students’ Eyes
Fortunately, a wreck in Carrick, Pennsylvania was only a mock accident whose purpose it was to teach students about how dangerous it is to drive drunk. According to the students of Carrick High School, they got the message very clearly.
Local police staged a mock crash between two old vehicles in the school parking lot to show students the bloody consequences of a crash that involves the consumption of alcohol. Pittsburgh EMS, firefighters and police all played a role in the staging of the crash on the grounds of the local high school. The crews even had the Jaws of Life on Hand to cut open both cars.
According to a teacher at the school, he thinks that the staged drunk driving crash is going to have a big impact on the students who saw it. He believes that it is going to make kids top and realize the effects of drinking and driving, and also the effects of the dangers of taking drugs and getting behind the wheel.
The fake crash came at a good time in the high school year. This is the time when many students are going to prom and also attending graduation parties, where drinking and driving is all too common. Recent US statistics show that drinking and driving kills 11,000 Americans each year.
Before the crash was carried out between the two cars, students heard brief presentations from various speakers, including DUI crash victims. A local woman who was hit by a drunk driver five years ago talked to the students. Other victims that are affiliated with Mothers Against Drunk Driving also talked to the high school students.
According to MADD’s Traci Van Dyke, “DUI has no boundaries. No matter where you are, it can happen. But you carry the experience with you forever, whether you commit the offense or you are victimized by the offense.”
The juniors and seniors who watched the wreck said that the experience definitely opened their eyes and they will not forget the images.
According to one of the students, the staged crash was terrifying. “It scares me, and makes me not want to drive,” said Kevin Horvath.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, another group of high school students also had the chance to witness a fake crash in the high school parking lot. This ‘crash’ had student actors from the theater department at Glenbard North High School to increase student awareness of drinking and driving.
Firefighters showed students how they have to pull victims from mangled cars after a crash, and how they do sobriety tests.
Shapiro, Lewis, Appleton & Favaloro is a Virginia personal injury law firm that often represents the victims of drunk drivers in the courts of Virginia and North Carolina.