PEABODY — The Police and Fire Departments held a mock car crash demonstration at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School Wednesday afternoon, to educate students about the many dangers of driving under the influence.
The demonstration was presented by Police Lt. James T. Harkins, Fire Capts. Paul Silva and Russ Lewis, as well as High School Principal Brooke Randall, and Stage One Performing Arts (drama students who acted as victims in the car crash).
Harkins had the students all file into the auditorium before the demonstration began, so the students could get an in-depth look at how prevalent the dangers of driving under the influence are to youth, reminding the students that one mistake could change the course of their entire lives.
Within his brief presentation, he went through some details of recent car crashes around Massachusetts — and even played a video of kids partying, drinking, and getting behind the wheel to drive home. When the sounds of laughter and noise suddenly dropped to a deafening silence as the video cut directly to black, the entire auditorium paused.
After going over data regarding car crashes and the different elements of risk at play, the students were taken outside to experience the demonstration. Two beat up cars were arranged on the grass — with drama students positioned in the cars, acting as victims and drivers in the crime-scene.
Drama students Erina Stanton, Myles Fitzgerald, Allyson Bua, and Emy Sousa Santos played the roles of the teenage victims. While the role of a mourning mother was played by Stephanie Lane.
It began in a rush as the demonstration started, as police sirens cried out in the distance and blared as two police cruisers peeled onto the scene from around the corner, followed by ambulances, with police and firemen all acting the part as they would in any crash scene.
Lewis narrated the scene from above as it started to unfold, and the fire department grabbed the Jaws of Life to extract a wounded victim from one of the cars. Another student was stretched out over the hood of the engine, lying through the windshield and playing dead. Police came over and draped a sheet over his body as he was pronounced “dead” at the scene.
“They determined that one person cannot get out of the vehicle by themselves, so they’re going to have to use the Jaws of Life to extract the person,” Lewis explained. “As this unfolds, pay attention to how many lives this one bad decision has affected.”
Lewis continued as the students watched police give one driver a field sobriety test, after giving her the news that her friend in the car “passed away.”
“Look at the police in the front, and you’ll see them doing a field sobriety test on the driver,” Lewis added. Police then deployed a drone that soared over the crowd to map out the crash recovery.
“If you look at the police in front, they’ve determined that the driver is intoxicated… They’re putting her in handcuffs, and they are under arrest,” Lewis said. “One bad decision has affected six lives.”
Meanwhile, police and fire helped the injured drivers escape the damaged vehicles before being put on gurneys and escorted to the ambulance.
Afterward, an actress who played the role of a “mourning mother” approached the crime scene, screaming at the top of her lungs over her “son” (the actor who “died”). When Harkins tried to console the mother, she continued screaming and slapped him across the face in a fit of rage.
When the demonstration outside had ended, Harkins commented on why he feels these lessons are so critical to the students.
“We do this to show the students the impacts of their decisions, and that every decision you make has a consequence… And as we saw here today, we had six people injured, one of them deceased,” Harkins said. “Then, you see the mom come out of the crowd, and that’s how moms are going to react… Moms and dads are devastated when you tell them they’ve lost a family member, especially their child — no parent should have to bury their child.”
Harkins continued, “Especially when it’s preventable. What we’re trying to do here is prevent them from making a poor decision that could ruin the rest of their lives and ruin the lives of others… It’s very near and dear to me, I take drinking and driving very seriously, and if we can convince them to make the right decision, then we might have given them one more day with their family.”
