| Friday May 24 2013
Juneau: 47°F
Now in Digital HD on Ch. 5.1!
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| Friday May 24 2013
Juneau: 47°F
Now in Digital HD on Ch. 5.1!
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Mock DUI car wreck demonstration at JDHS Published: 05/20/2010 13:15:00 Updated: 05/21/2010 08:27:46 Thursday afternoon, Juneau’s high school seniors and juniors got a firsthand look at what can happen if you drink and drive as part of a national public awareness program called “Every 15 Minutes”. Blaine Hatch of JPD explained: “What it entails, it’s a mock car crash, and it’s point is to be kind of in your face the realities of the dangers of drinking and driving. It is called Every 15 Minutes because when the program was developed back in the ‘90s, a teenager was killed in an alcohol related crash every 15 minutes.” Thankfully the statistics have improved over the years, the average is now about 1 death in the US every 30 minutes. Though JDHS has hosted similar demonstrations in the past, this is the first one on this scale. “The whole program shows also what happened to kids past the point of the crash. Which in our case, we’ve filmed prior, and once the car crash is shown outside, the kids will be bought into the auditorium for a mock funeral.” Hatch added. As part of the funeral, students saw a video that followed the victims and the driver of the crash through the aftermath. After last year’s tragic death of Taylor White, this year’s event came at a poignant time for some. Paula Casperson, Assistant Principal at JDHS described some of the reactions. “I think that Taylor’s death had a huge impact on our community. People who didn’t know him, know his family, were profoundly impacted by the fact that something like this could happen.“ One of the groups involved in Thursday’s event was the Taylor White Foundation. Carol White, Taylor White’s mother, was present at Thursday’s assembly. She recommended planning ahead before you party to make sure you have a safe ride home: “And you’ve already heard it expressed a few times, but the idea is that this could happen to you. So if you’re going to make that choice, at least plan ahead, to safeguard yourself.” KATH-TV will be airing a special one-hour documentary on Thursday’s simulation this Sunday at 2pm. http://www.every15minutes.com/ By: Mikko Wilson - mikko@kath.tv |
