Schools
Accident Simulation Teaches Drunk Driving Awareness
Program uses rescue enactment, hospital visit, court proceedings to show the aftermath of drunken crash.
It started with a message, with a delivery that involved a simulated car crash outside Hillsborough High School that killed two students, left another permanently injured and a third on trial for drunk driving.
The anti-drunk driving message was what Hillsborough High School junior Regina Santangelo hoped to tell the senior class as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project—and she enlisted help from the New Jersey State Police, Hillsborough Police, Hillsborough Rescue Squad and Hillsborough Fire Companies to do it.
Through a program called "Every 15 Minutes," seniors at the school saw the affects of a drunk driving crash, with their classmates taking the roles of driver, victims, and passenger. Other students took the roles of deceased teenagers to represent the teenagers who die in drunk driving accidents—the incident occur every 15 minutes, the program states.
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In addition to a rescue effort, the day continued with a hospital trip, pronunciation of death, charges for the student portraying the driver and a trial in Hillsborough Municipal court. While the entire class did not attend the hospital trip or trial, the scenes were videotaped and shown to them the following day.
The two-day program concluded Friday with a mock-memorial ceremony at the school.
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Please see the video for scenes from the crash and the day's activities.
Editor's Note: Some of the scenes use makeup to depict the injuries sustained in a severe motor vehicle crash.
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