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Mock Car Crash Brings Home Harsh Realities

photo provided The silence at VUHS was only broken by the cries of the students acting in the Mock Car Crash and the sirens and emergency respondents. Somber to watch, shocking for many, the Mock Car Crash brings home the dangers of driving intoxicated or under the influence.

photo provided A student acting in the Mock Car Crash.

Tuesday May 13, 2014

By Cookie Steponaitis

The tenuousness of life was brought home to the students of VUHS on Friday, May 9th as a mock car crash was staged with alarming reality and intense clarity. “This activity is scarily realistic,” shared senior Emilee Trudo who assisted Driver's Education teacher Sandy Chicoine with planning the event. “I wanted to be involved to help my peers understand that driving is not some fun thing to take lightly but comes with serious responsibility; the kind that can save peoples' lives. I don't think us teens really grasp how easily we could be in those crashes instead of in the traffic created by them. Prom and graduation are notorious for being free and having a good time and there is nothing wrong with that, that's why I am very much looking forward to both events.  But because of elevated happiness and freedom we teens can turn being ‘free’ into being ‘careless’ with driving and with the decisions that we make or let people make for us.  It's a nice little reminder that even during the best high school moment’s life is still fragile and unfortunately we aren't as indestructible as we think.”
    Trudo and Driver's Education teacher Sandy Chicoine are expecting that some of their peers will roll their eyes and wonder why they are witnessing the event by pressing the realism and incorporating into the mock crash handcuffs, ambulances and people being declared legally dead. The emphasis of the presentation is on the realization of how decisions impact not only individuals but communities as well. The joint effort involves school, law enforcement, fire departments, rescue squads and several levels of community support.  The mock car crash needed no microphone because the stunned silence of the 350 in attendance allowed for everyone to hear the radios, calls and sirens. Faces looked on horrified as classmates were carried out covered in blood and some being declared dead. While everyone understood the event was staged the realism hit home with people leaving talking quietly and many comforting each other. “I didn't volunteer to get brownie points,” concluded Trudo. “I volunteered because I want to make this a powerful and helpful experience.  It's important to me that my peers understand how fragile life is, how important our lives are, and how only we can control what happens to us.” It is a somber lesson but a story that must be told not only as Prom and graduation season starts but for all of us on any day.

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