Students watch as a mock DWI scene unfolds in front of Fayetteville High School Thursday morning.
Photos: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Local emergency responders staged a grisly drunk driving accident in front of Fayetteville High School on Thursday morning, complete with bloody students, shredded vehicles and shattered glass strewn across the road.
The simulated DWI crash was hosted by school officials with help from the Fayetteville Fire Department and Fayetteville Police Department, along with crews from the Central Emergency Medical Service and the Air-Evac LIFE-Team.
Emergency responders transport a body from a mangled vehicle to an ambulance.
The crash scene drama, played out before the student body who watched quietly from both sides of Stone Street, was part of the school’s “Shattered Dreams” initiative which aims to remind students of the dangers of driving drunk.
Another element of the program includes an individual dressed as the “Grim Reaper” who appears periodically throughout the day to take students out of class and dress them in a black t-shirt to signify that they died in an alcohol-related traffic accident. The students are then returned to class where they are not to speak for the remainder of the day. By the end of the school day, each class has one or more “deceased” students present in the room.
A wrap-up assembly is planned for Friday morning featuring those who played roles in the day’s drama, including the “crash” victims, the drunk driver, their parents, and participating law enforcement and medical personnel. Impact statements from community members whose lives have been affected by teenage alcohol use and drunk driving will bring closure to the program.
