THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 16, 1996 TAG: 9605160385
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
There wasn't panic. Simply stunned disbelief as they sat quietly staring straight ahead with intense looks on their faces at the two wrecked cars and their five injured friends who were lying unconscious a few feet in front of them.
Shards of glass were strewn around the scene. The teenagers inside apparently were seriously hurt.
Some onlookers, like Skye Johnston, could barely handle the scene. Others, like Ryan Blake, pointed out the details of what was happening before them.
As the students continued to watch, ambulances and police cars surrounded the scene. A helicopter rolled in and took a young woman away. Another victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Disaster had struck. And there were few smiles on the faces of the 14- to 18-year-old students at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy Wednesday afternoon on the school's football field as they watched medical professionals take their friends away.
But those are the consequences of drunken driving. And that's the scene that school participants attempted to portray in a mock car accident where the Suffolk police and fire departments, the Nansemond-Suffolk Rescue Squad and Nightingale helicopter ambulance showed the students all the evils of driving while intoxicated.
The event, held about a week before the school's prom, was sponsored by Students Against Drunk Driving, the school's year-old organization, and Nationwide Insurance, which sponsors Prom Promise.
Prom Promise is a program that tries to get local high school students to make a pledge to not drink and drive on prom night.
It was the first time the school had staged such an event.
``The point isn't to scare the students,'' Kim Mason, one of the event's organizers, said. ``We just want to show them why it's important to make positive decisions.''
After the scene had been cleared, students learned the legal ramifications of drinking and driving when the teenage driver of one of the cars was given several sobriety tests and then handcuffed and taken away.
Courtney Carpenter, 17, said she was surprised at all the problems a few drinks can cause.
``It was scary,'' Carpenter said. ``It made you think about what can happen.''
Stephanie Beaton said the mock accident bought back memories of an old friend and reminded her of how important it is to follow the rules.
``It made me think about the friend we lost a few years ago,'' Beaton, 17, said. ``There wasn't any alcohol involved, but it made me think about driving safely and about not drinking and driving at all.'' ILLUSTRATION: JOHN H. SHEALLY II
The Virginian-Pilot
Emergency personnel respond to a mock accident Wednesday on the
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy football field. by CNB