The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Teaching valuable lessons
Mock DWI demonstrations show the dangers of driving under the influence
Gut-wrenching screams, cries for help, and sirens pierced the sunny skies at the Oneida and Canastota high schools on Thursday morning as the two school districts held separate mock DWI accidents in advance of junior proms scheduled for the upcoming weekend.
And though the setting and characters may have differed at each location, Thursday morning carried the same resounding message for all students about to partake in the 2017 promseason: “None of you are invincible.”
“Just imagine if you were one of these students,” acting Oneida City Police Chief Paul Thompson said to OHS students, directing their collective gaze to the a grisly site: two totaled vehicles, a body strewn across the hood of one car, classmates trapped inside both vehicles, and one drunk, regretful driver trying to wake the friend killed as a result of the reckless decision to drink and drive.
During the harsh, sobering scene that followed, members of the Oneida Fire Department worked to extract passengers trapped within what was left of two vehicles following a collision. Meanwhile, a Vineall Ambulance crew tended to what injuries they could fix as a uniformed Oneida City Police Department officer separated grieving, enraged parents from the drunk driver responsible for the accident.
With the parents restrained, the OPD officer turned his attention to the drunk driver, putting him through the paces of a sobriety test before handcuffing him as emergency personnel around the pair rushed to save lives. Members of the OFD worked quickly to extricate victims from both vehicles, using hydraulic equipment to tear the
vehicles apart in order to save those trapped within.
The performance came to a close with the chilling, final moment in which the parents were called back to the scene of the crash to identify their son before breaking down into sobs and being ushered away so the body could be tagged, placed in a body bag, and loaded into the back of a Campbell-Dean Funeral Home hearse.
Some 13 miles west of OHS, the Canastota community - Canastota High School, the Canastota Police Department, the Canastota Volunteer Fire Department, the Greater Lenox Ambulance Service, and Larry Ball Funeral Home - were finishing a similar accident portrayal.
“Each and every one of you thinks nothing is going to happen to you,” Canastota Police Chief James Zophy said to Canastota students. “Don’t take for granted that you are invincible. Don’t take for granted that your age changes.”
Both Thompson and Zophy shared their own personal experiences in regards to senseless, preventable accidents.
When Zophy was a student at Canastota, he was invited to a party after he got off work at McDonald’s on Easter Eve.
He never made it, because the roads between Lincoln and Clockville were blocked after a car with four teens drove 120 mph down the hill and into a maple tree.
Three of the teens died, while the fourth who lived was thrown 200 yards from the vehicle and into a nearby house.
The car hit the tree so hard, one of the kid’s teeth were embedded into the bark and the tree had to be removed. The two boys were from Canastota, the two girls from Oneida.
“Cherish the people that are in your class, love them like family,” Zophy said.
Thompson remembered that while he was a student at OHS, a similarly reckless accident claimed the life of one of his peers. He still remembers the special page dedicated in memory of that student, a tribute he wishes was never needed.
“Resolve amongst yourselves to never have to dedicate a yearbook page to a classmate who died in an accident,” Thompson said.
In addition to the police chief’s message, Oneida student performers who participated in the mock accident left their peers with some poignant messages as well.
“Don’t be afraid to police one another. Them hating you for a while is better than them being dead,” Aidan Yazelli said.
If students do find themselves in scenarios where they don’t feel safe getting into or behind the wheel of a vehicle because of alcohol, Molly Egger encouraged her peers to call for help.
“You all have common sense to call someone,” Egger said.
Jordan O’Connell played the deceased victim in the OHS mock accident and was shaken by his parents’ reaction upon being asked to identify his body.
“I almost lost it when my parents came over,” Jordan O’Connell said, urging students to think of the ramifications their decisions have on their families.
And as both schools were finalizing preparations for their junior proms scheduled for Saturday, OHS senior Kevin Spooner shared how witnessing a mock DWI last year as a junior struck him and informed his decision to surrender his car keys following Prom 2016 before any type of after party started.
“Imagine one of your classmates is gone for the rest of your life tomorrow,” Spooner said. “Have fun at prom. Be safe. Stay where you are.”
For a full gallery of the Oneida High School mock DWI, visit: https://jrconeida.smugmug.com/2017OHS-Mock-DWI/
For a full gallery of the Canastota High School mock DWI, visit: https://jrconeida.smugmug.com/2017Canastota-Mock-DWI/