`THE CONSEQUENCES OF DRIVING DRUNK'
Students showing students `how quickly you can take a life'
The most dangerous thing most people in Mendocino County will do today is get in a vehicle, because not even the most responsible and respectful driver who does all they can to avoid harming anyone or anything is guaranteed to reach their destination without incident.
And all too often those conscientious drivers are sharing the pavement with people who are far less concerned about protecting others or even themselves, which is why two Anderson Valley High students decided to demonstrate the devastating damage that one bad decision behind the wheel can inflict.
“We wanted our classmates to see how easily and how quickly you can take a life,” said AV senior Marissa Alvarez, explaining that she never got to meet one of her aunts because the family member was killed in a crash while driving after drinking.
“This project meant a lot to us, because we wanted to show the consequences of driving drunk,” said fellow senior Anahi Anguiano, who also had a DUI crash affect her family when her grandfather was so seriously injured after being struck by a drunk driver that he was hospitalized for many months.
So their senior project had special meaning for both girls, who were so ambitious with their plans that Anderson Valley School District Superintendent Louise Simson said they were allowed to work as a team, which is usually not the case for such assignments.
“And they did an amazing job,” said Simson, describing the students as not only reaching out to local first responders, but enlisting more than a dozen student volunteers to put on what she described as an “impactful”
scene showing a boy being arrested following a crash that killed two other teenagers after a Super Bowl party.
“We had the CHP officers put him in handcuffs and charge him with two counts of vehicular manslaughter,” said Anguiano, noting that Chief Andres Avila of the Anderson Valley Fire Department helped orchestrate the collision response, which included extricating at least one victim from the wrecked vehicles, which were provided by A-1 Towing.
The extricated victim was then “transported” in a helicopter by Calstar 4, which Simson said was “no small feat. Last week, on a very tight turn-around, Caltrans stepped in and coordinated a site inspection to make sure the helicopter could land on the softball field, (before being featured in) a reenactment which was viewed by the full high school student body.”
“The key message we want our youth to take from these types of programs is that inexperienced drivers and underage drinkers are a deadly combination,” said CHP Officer Olegario Marin. “Teenagers need to know the consequences if they get behind the wheel if they've been drinking, or if they choose to get into a car with someone who has been drinking, and Marissa and Anahi's senior project helped us deliver that message.”
Marin described the seniors as “working hard and spending hours planning and meeting with local community members to bring the two-day DUI Awareness program together, which challenged their peers to think about drinking, driving, personal safety, and the responsibility of making mature decisions impacting family, friends, and the community.”
“If their work saves even one student from a poor and potentially fatal choice to drink and drive, it has been a huge success,” said Simson, noting that Alvarez's mother not only helped with this year's program, but had participated in a similar event as part of her own senior project, which is another reason why her daughter said she felt so compelled to host the event.
“I have been planning for this since I was in the sixthgrade,” Alvarez said.