Schools

Helix Students See Real Life Impact of DUI Tragedies with Staged Accident

By Eric Yates

The junior and senior classes at Helix Charter High School witnessed a presentation that they won’t soon forget on Monday – a mock DUI car crash featuring some of their fellow students.  

The presentation was part of the “Every 15 Minutes” campaign, an emotionally charged two-day program which challenges the students to think about drinking, personal and safety and the responsibility to make mature decisions when other lives are involved. The program’s name was derived from the fact that every fifteen minutes someone in the United States dies in an alcohol-related incident.  

The students met on the outside lawn above Highland Avenue outside the school and witnessed the scene of a horrific car crash, featuring mangled metal, blood, and one “dead” student who flew through the windshield. Senior Chanelle Ward, a Scotties athlete, played the role of the driver of one of the cars. The other actors – including senior baseball star Ray Peterson – portrayed passengers badly hurt or killed in the wreck.  

The presentation played out as a real accident would, with La Mesa police and paramedics responding to the scene. The “Jaws of Life” were used to help extricate crash victims from cars, police gave Ward field sobriety tests and eventually placed her under arrest, and a hearse arrived to transport the deceased crash victim to the morgue.  

Cheryl Tyler, a teacher at Helix and the SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) Advisor, said that the students who participated in the class were highly-respected among their peers, who could possibly make more of a difference.  

The action will extend beyond the confines of the staged accident as well, said Sgt. Brian Stoney of the LMPD. Video crews from the school will continue to document everything that happens in a DUI fatality, from Ward being booked at the police station, to parents of the deceased student being notified, to other victims being taken to the hospital.  

 “When you drive by an accident, it’s not just that accident,” said Stoney. “There’s so many more people that are affected.”  

 The footage will be pieced together and played in a documentary for the students on Tuesday in an all-school assembly.  

 “It’s really moving to say the least,” said senior Kraig Fahrer, 18, of the crash scene. “A lot of assemblies about drinking and driving before this just talk, and you don’t really get the effect.”  

 The visuals really opened his eyes, Fahrer added.  

 “Two people in the car were my friends. I didn’t even know they were doing this,” he said. “So seeing them, I don’t want to see anyone I know like that, or see that happen to anyone in general. Just seeing it in real life is really impactful.”  

 Also littered among the crowd were 18 “living dead” cadaverous students dressed in black, carrying their own tombstones, with RIP written on their shirts.
They represented the individuals that will be killed this very day in an alcohol-related accident.  

 There have also been events over the past few weeks in preparation for Monday.

A student dressed as the Grim Reaper, who was also present at the crash site, would interrupt a class every 15 minutes unannounced, and select one student or teacher at random. The reaper would then pronounce them dead and read an obituary.  

 Stoney said that Helix was selected to participate, because it had been 4-5 years since the demonstration was last done, and they wanted to bring it back.  

 This program is made available by grant funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the California Highway Patrol.


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