Photo Gallery, Video: Staged DUI Crash Scene at South Pasadena High School

Lawrence Moreno thought of family and friends while his back was on the pavement at the corner of Diamond Avenue and Rollin Street, just outside of the gym. He thought of the cool breeze of the morning, which he could feel underneath the yellow tarp that, under normal circumstances, would tell people he was dead.

"My parents always told me never to drink and drive, and I just thought of how I'd have let them down if this happened to me," said Lawrence, who is very much alive, 17, and a senior at South Pasadena High School. "I heard some of my friends call out to me."

Lawrence, wearing a crimson mask of fake blood and glass, joined three other students along with police and public safety officers for a staged DUI collision scene. The scene included two decimated, smoking cars from a local towing company as well as response from police and medical personnel.

The production is part of the nationwide "Every 15 Minutes" program, which uses a variety of theatrical, dramatic applications in an attempt to educate teenagers about the consequences of drinking and driving. The simulated crash is just one element of a series of concepts that includes a "grim reaper" picking students out of class, filmed segments about teens who die in the hospital, students coming back from the dead in white makeup and even mock death notifications to participating parents.

"I went to the hospital for the filming of the segment where the parents are told their kid is dead," said Camille Endacott, 17, a senior who is one of the chief organizers for South Pas High's involvement in the program. "Observing the parents is really powerful. You see how something like this just keeps extending past just the people in the crash."

The program takes places every two years, with members of the senior class who are part of the committee selecting sophomores to observe the program's workings and start preparing to take over when their time comes. 

Camille's dad, Ray Endacott, was watching the scene unfold on the sidewalk.

"The whole thing is pretty emotional," he said. "I remember shopping for the Grim Reaper costume, and getting emotional just explaining what the program is and what we were doing. It's every parent's worst nightmare."

It can also have a profound effect on fellow students, many of whom have known each other since grade school or younger, said senior Marian Slocum, another member of the high school's Every 15 Minutes committee.

"Just seeing the body, or even imagining school without them, even for one day, can be really unnerving," she said.

Hopefully, it's unnerving enough for the message to stick, said police who were also at the scene.

"Even thought we all know it's staged, it's going to seem very real for these kids," said Capt. DeAnn Wheeless of the South Pasadena Police Department. "It's a reminder, a very pointed reminder, of what can happen."

For more on the Every 15 Minutes program, click here.