Sobering Lessons About Drunk Driving for MVHS Students

In 2007, a six-year-old Kelly Vroom knew someone killed in a drunk driving accident. That person was 8 years old.

Wednesday, the now 15-year-old Vroom found a way to help her peers hopefully avoid injuring themselves or others.

Mountain View High School, in partnership with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) participated, in the "Every 15 Minutes" program—a two-day program which challenges high school students to think about difficult issues like drinking, driving, personal safety, the responsibility of making mature decisions, and the impact their decisions have on family, friends and many others.

"I think it was important to have this program," said Sofia Biros, 16 and resident of Mountain View, who along with Vroom helped coordinate the two-day program. "We may not be a big drinking school, but there are drugs and alcohol at school. And even if can't prevent them from using, can try to prevent them from getting injured and risking lives."

On the first day of the two-day program, the student volunteers along with parent volunteers, officers with the CHP, Mountain View Police and Fire Departments and even the Santa Clara County Coroner's Officer descended on the football field for a dramatic simulation of the immediate aftermath of a drunk-driving accident. All 1,800 MVHS were called out to watch from the bleachers.

The simulation began with the initial 9-1-1 calls and progresses with the dispatching of police units, fire and ambulance. In the case at MVHS, one student was ejected from the car while two remained trapped in a car with serious injuries. Jaws-of-death were used to remove those two students.

On Thursday, the second day of "Every 15 Minutes," the students at MVHS attended a mock funeral for the three students, the last two who succumbed to their injuries.

"It was really intense, really realistic. It's what you would see on CSI," said a couple of 15- and 16-year-olds who stood by their lockers chatting. They admitted that the situation happening to them wasn't on their radar, but it was now. They felt the program impacted their outlook about driving under the influence.

"It definitely made me think twice about getting into a car without a license driver, with a drunk driver or driving drink," said one girl.

That's precisely the message that CHP wanted to get across. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association "in 2011, 32 percent of 15- to 20-year-old killed in crashes had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .01 grams or higher." Another 26 percent had a BAC of .08 grams or higher.

Fortunately, nationwide over the years young people dying in drunk driving have decreased by 48 percent from 3,838 in between 2002 to 1,987 in 2011.

Now, instead of "every 15 minutes someone dies..," said CHP spokesman Arturo Montiel, "it's every 53 minutes." The original figure is from 1995, when the Chico Police Department started the program to mitigate drunk-driving incidents in their city.

Eighteen-year-old Becky Slattery walked away from the re-enactment quietly. Slattery explained that she's seen accidents before and that "it sucks."

"At least [this re-enactment] wasn't real."

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