The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
VEHICLE CRASH SIMULATION HELD
Students show dangers of drinking and driving
With North Ridgeville High School’s prom this weekend, students from a Personal and Social Development class organized a vehicle crash simulation on May 5 to bring awareness about the outcomes of drinking and driving.
With the help from the Ohio Highway Patrol and the North Ridgeville Police and Fire departments, students were able to educate seniors about the dangers of driving drunk.
“Our biggest health concern was drinking and driving especially with prom coming up, so we wanted to do a proactive project,” 10th-grader Jacob Mansell said.
With the weather being unfavorable, students couldn’t demonstrate a crash scene, which entailed two wrecked cars provided by Square Collision Center. Instead local law enforcement agencies shared their personal stories of crash scenes they have had to endure with students gathered in the gym.
“We want you all to be safe this weekend and for the rest of your life,” Patrolman Calvin Cross said.
Cross proceeded to tell students about a call he received while working a night shift a few years ago.
“I got a call that a car ran into a garage on Case Road — my first thought was how does a car crash into a garage. When I got to the scene it was the worst crash I had ever seen,” he said. “The car was going too fast around a curve and spun out of control, hitting a tree and ejecting four young people out of the car.”
While on the scene, Cross recalled some horrific sights, “One person was dead on scene — his face was unrecognizable, almost like a rubber mask — and two others were alive, but in bad shape,” he said.
Police didn’t realize there was a fourth victim until later on after reviewing statements.
“We went back to the crash site and found the fourth victim, who was stuck under the car,” Cross said. “It’s important you all make the right decisions to not drink and drive.”
The event continued with stories from the OHP and firefighter-paramedics, causing emotions to pour out from one of the firefighter-paramedics.
“I didn’t mean to become emotional, but I hope it grabs these kids attention because this is serious,” Kevin Pocos said. “We can’t erase these images from our head, but we can share it to keep this from happening.”
After all the stories were told, two students were able to participate in a field sobriety test wearing a pair of goggles to represent a intoxication simulation.
Senior Maddie Rieter, 18, was one student who was able to participate in the field sobriety test.
“I couldn’t even walk straight with the goggles on. It was harder than I thought,” she said. “The biggest takeaway for me was hearing all those stories, it’s really sad. This weekend, I plan to intervene if I see someone who is drunk and tries to drive.”
“Our biggest health concern was drinking and driving especially with prom coming up, so we wanted to do a proactive project.”
— 10th-grader Jacob Mansell