Park City High School seniors gathered at a nearby LDS church parking lot to witness a dramatic reenactment of the real-life dangers of drunk driving.
Speakers set the scene. A group of students discussed how they would get home after a night of drinking. One girl said she’s got her keys and can drive. A boy said they could take Park City’s free public transit, but she insisted she’s “really good” at driving under the influence.
The group of four got into the car for the short drive. The driver swerved into another vehicle as students screamed and tires screeched.
Two damaged cars hidden under tarps were then revealed. Glass littered the ground and one girl, Amelia, had been launched through the windshield and was covered in fake blood. The other three students in the car got out, panicking, while one frantically called 911. The driver in the other car was also unresponsive.
Then first responders arrived to the docudrama.
As the police talked to the drunk driver, firefighters and medics evaluated the rest of those involved in the crash. One girl was loaded onto a gurney while firefighters extracted the other unconscious driver. Amelia died at the scene and was covered with a white cloth.
As an AirMed helicopter arrived to pick up the other driver, the Park City senior class looked on somberly, some teary-eyed.
As the helicopter took off and the ambulance drove away, the police arrested the drunk driver. Some students broke the tension with laughter, another shouted “bye!” as the police car drove off.
Senior Lucas Crosson said some of his friends were the ones to make fun of the scene.
“I thought it was a little funny, because I got to see my friends do like a mock DUI test,” he said.
In the final scene a hearse arrived for Amelia, sending a clear message to the students before graduation night.
Crosson said he thinks the reenactment will help many of his classmates avoid drunk driving, but likely not all.
“I mean, there's always kind of a yes and no to that,” he said.
He said that’s because many students have an “it won’t happen to me” mentality.
Park City Fire District firefighter Robert Sharrar [shuh-rar] said he has worked real drunk driving crashes and agreed the reenactment can raise awareness.
“These scenarios can be super traumatic when you're dealing with someone you know in your personal life, and so when you kind of make it tangible to these students and put them in a scenario where they can kind of imagine and place their friends or themselves in this situation, it can bring some awareness to being safe,” he said.
After the reenactment, students heard about real-life experiences from first responders, all in an effort to keep students safe.
