Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 28, 1993 TAG: 9305280059
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LEIGH ALLEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Eventually, he found the one he was looking for.
"Claudine, you have a message from your dad," he said.
Fortunately, Claudine Anderson wasn't as bad off as she appeared. "Thanks," the senior said after springing out from under her sheet to join other students who were shaking off injuries after a mock car crash.
This is the fourth year the American Red Cross has been setting up mock car crashes like this one. Instead of telling students what could happen to them if they drink and drive, the Red Cross is showing them.
And with William Byrd's prom night coming up Saturday, school officials and police hope the mock crash made an impression on students that could save their lives.
"We were losing two or three a year on prom night in the Roanoke Valley until we started this," said Red Cross Communications Director Terri Lewis. "At the schools we have done this to, we haven't had a single alcohol-related fatality on prom night."
The mock crash, complete with Vinton Rescue Squad members, was a surprise to many students. They were told to walk past the accident scene on the school's running track before taking seats in the football stadium bleachers in view of the two cars.
Early in the program, many students joked and laughed at the blood and fake injuries on their classmates inside the wreck. But as rescue squad workers began removing the "victims" from the cars, and placing sheets over the faces of some, the students in the bleachers became quiet.
Roanoke Police Lt. William Althoff spoke to the students after rescue workers and police had finished. He told them about having to inform parents every year that their sons or daughters had been killed in a car wreck.
"When I tell them, you can see the life drain out of the mothers' faces," Althoff said.
Although many students acknowledged they would be attending parties after the prom Saturday where alcohol would be served, some said they would take extra steps to prevent drinking and driving.
"A lot of people go to these parties and don't drink because they know other people are gonna be drinking," said William Byrd senior Greg Cundiff. "New Year's Eve this year I didn't take a sip of liquor because I knew other people would need to be driven around. I'll probably do that for prom."
Senior Genesis Jones said that although she and her boyfriend do not drink, seeing the mock crash reinforced the idea that they did not want to be on the road Saturday night. Genesis said they and one or two other couples probably would rent a hotel room close to the site of the prom in order to minimize driving.
"We don't even drink, but a lot of other people do," she said. "I don't even want to go out because of other people drinking.
"It's just not worth it," she said.
by CNB