As prom season approaches, local high schools are once again warning students of the dangers of drunk and distracted driving. The Oregon-Davis SADD chapter is holding its annual mock crash today for high school juniors and seniors. Fire trucks, rescue vehicles, and a helicopter are all expected to be on the Oregon-Davis campus, as part of the presentation.
Next Thursday, Knox High School will be staging its first mock crash in at least 10 years, according to Principal Dr. Elizabeth Ratliff. “They will actually bring two cars in, have victims that are in there, and all of our kids that have driver’s licenses will be out there watching,” she told the school board last week. “They will cut whoever it is out of the car with all the response how it is. Our hope is they might be able to land the helicopter, so that the kids can really pay attention to what happens in a car wreck.”
Ratliff expects three fire departments, emergency medical services, and police to take part in next week’s mock crash. “It was a request from our emergency services personnel who have kids in our building and said, ‘You know, we haven’t done this, but we need to show them what happens. We need to show them, so that if I have to cut them out of a car, they’re not going to be so afraid. They’re going to know what’s coming next, and that this could happen.’ Part of it is even if they’re not hurt very badly, they may have to extricate them from a car because a leg is trapped, where if they yank on them, it’s going to hurt them. But it’s all noisy, it’s all frightening, and it’s all scary.”
She said that students who don’t drive will instead attend a convocation with Starke County Prosecutor Nick Bourff.
