L-M students act out mock crash last week

Eight Litchville-Marion High School students acted out a mock crash on April 17 in Valley City, N.D.

A mock crash is an event intended to increase awareness of the consequences of drinking and driving. The dramatization is made to look like and feel as real as possible in order to show students the reality of what a true crash looks like.

Valley City fire and rescue squads participated in the mock crash, doing exactly as they would at the sight of a real crash by treating victims as if they were truly injured.

Performers of the crash were made to look as if they had crash-induced injuries through the use of fake blood and makeup. Mock fatalities were pronounced dead on the scene, placed in body bags and loaded into a funeral coach.

The crash involved two vehicles — one heading from its school’s after-prom party to Jamestown and the second on its way to another party after having several drinks at the last party. The vehicles collided when the drunk driver responded too late to a stop sign.

Consequences portrayed included one fatality when the passenger in the drunk driver’s vehicle was thrown through the windshield. As in many cases, the drunk driver had few physical injuries.

The scene also provided a visual of the drunk driver performing sobriety tests, being handcuffed and being placed in a police car.

Students participating in the dramatization included seniors Jenna Botner, Devin Piehl, Layne Larson, Alexandra Holland and Nick Haakenson as well as juniors Shannon Opdahl, Heather Graalum and John Baumgartner.

Present in the crowd for the mock crash were Litchville-Marion and Gackle-Streeter students in grades seven through 12 in addition to a number of Valley City juniors and seniors.

Tags: news, crash, education