Monte Vista Journal | Mock accident raises awareness among MVHS students

Photos by Marie McColm A police officer checks on a young teenager during a simulated drunk driving accident scenario at Monte Vista High School. Before prom, a simulated drunk driving accident demonstration was held at Monte Vista High School for juniors and seniors.

MONTE VISTA – Before prom, Monte Vista High School students got a close look at the consequences of a drunk driving accident through a mock accident.

National data shows that drunk driving among students increases during prom season. MVHS showed its students up close what can happen when they try to drive under the influence.

The Monte Vista High School Student Council co-sponsors Melissa Harlan and Kyle Behrman and the Monte Vista Student Council, Monte Vista After-Prom, San Luis Valley Prom, San Luis Valley RETAC, Colorado Recycling, the Monte Vista Police Department, Monte Vista EMS and the Rio Grande County Coroner worked on the demonstration.

The event began Thursday, April 25, in the Monte Vista High School gymnasium. All middle and high school students were called over loudspeakers in the school and asked to enter the gymnasium for the presentation.

Harlan introduced many of the people who would speak and give presentations to the students.

“It’s all a lot of work. I want to thank everyone for being here. We’ll start in the gym and then move on to the mock accident. I know there will be times when you might want to laugh at all of this, but remember that people really die, this is a real thing. Please be respectful,” Harlan said.

A Colorado State Patrol reached out to everyone and said he wanted all the kids to have fun at prom this weekend.

“We want you to have fun, but when you drink and drive you are not only endangering yourself, but also other people in the car with you. Even if you only drink 3 to 1 beer, you are still impaired, especially if you are under 21.”

Students were then invited to participate in a law enforcement demonstration event. The students were asked to get down from the bleachers and put on goggles so their eyes could see everything, as if they were drunk. At least 12 students got out and put on safety glasses.

Students attempted to throw rings at cones while wearing the goggles, and some students performed a simulated sobriety test in which officers asked them to walk a straight line from heel to toe without losing balance . The students failed the test because they ran out of bounds.

After the glasses presentation, it was announced that there would be a film on the giant projector set up in the middle of the gym. Students were told that they could leave at any time during the film or look away if the film was too much for them.

The film was about 25 minutes long and showed real footage of car accidents in which the deceased were removed from the accidents in various ways. Many of the deceased were dismembered, some had several empty alcohol bottles in their vehicles, which were recovered from the rubble.

After the film presentation, it was announced that Student Council members had put together a video as an introduction to the simulated accident that students would see. In the video shown, all the watching students’ classmates could be seen preparing for prom and talking about how their evenings would go, where they would eat, and how they would get together. Two different groups of classmates could be seen in the video. Students watched as one group of classmates sat in a car and talked about their dinner and the road to prom, while the other group of classmates sat in another car, toasting and drinking alcoholic beverages while the driver laughed and drank along. In the scenario video, the cars collided because the drunken vehicle swerved into the wrong lane while both vehicles were driving.

All the students in the gym were then called out of the gym to watch the simulated car accident outside. As the students walked toward the scene of the accident on a meadow behind the school, paramedics and police officers could be seen arriving at the scene with their lights on because the accident was an emergency.

Outside, a car was completely overturned, with obvious blood stains on the door and a deceased girl lying under the car touching the ground with severe fatal injuries all over her face.

Classmates who were in the vehicles ran out and checked everyone outside and inside the cars to see if they were OK. The classmates screamed and shouted to each other: “Is everyone okay? “Oh my God, she’s not breathing.” Help. Help.” A man exiting the car immediately tried to help his girlfriend, who was lying outside the vehicle in her red ball gown with a bleeding head, but emergency services determined the girl was deceased. The coroner arrived, and three classmates were pronounced dead, taken to stretchers and covered.

You could see that everyone watching the mock accident was actually looking at the accident, and many students who had initially walked out laughing and smiling suddenly became noticeably quiet and looked at the accident.

Alexia Rivera, a student who was going to prom over the weekend and witnessed the mock accident, said, “It was very scary watching my friends, so tragic.” When asked if it would help her make good decisions over the weekend , she replied, “Absolutely, it will also help me ensure the safety of others.”

Student Oakley Sisneros said the demonstration was a real eye-opener for him, even though he doesn’t plan on going to prom. “It’s pretty nerve-wracking to see my classmate under a car.” When asked what he thought about seeing his classmates in the fake accident, he replied, “I just wish they had made better decisions. I hope they all stay safe this weekend.”

Harlan stated that she thought the demonstration went well: “The kids think it’s a big joke at first, but it’s a sobering sight.” When you go out and see that, it’s your friends thinking that something could happen and occasionally does happen. The children said it was disturbing and made them think.”

Harlan explained that if she could send a message to the kids for the weekend, she would say, “Go have fun, but be responsible, be careful and make good decisions.”

After the demonstration, SLV Prom donated $1,000 to SLV After Prom as part of a state grant to conduct the practice demonstration for the children and because the juniors and seniors signed placards pledging not to drink on prom night.