Audio clip
Todd Shoemaker
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — To make the point that Saturday’s prom shouldn’t include alcohol, a host of police, rescue and fire personnel staged a mock DUI crash Friday in the parking lot of Bradley Central High School.
An assembly of juniors and seniors looked at two crumpled cars with some blood smeared around a broken window. Over the public address system, the kids heard the frantic and dazed voice of one of their own calling 911. She said she had been drinking just before she crashed into another car.
The Bradley County Fire and Rescue team arrived, followed within seconds by sheriff’s patrol cars and a Bradley County ambulance.
The teen driver of the other car was texting. He never knew what happened. A bloodied young woman lay on her back. A young man sat on the ground, dazed but not badly hurt. Rescuers pried the top off a car to rescue teens “trapped” inside.
Of the six student actors, two were hauled away in the county coroner’s ambulance. One “injured” student was evacuated by helicopter, while a second left in an ambulance. The other two, including the girl calling 911, were not badly hurt.
-
Staff photo by Matt Fields-Johnson/Chattanooga Times Free Press The Air Evac helicopter lands at the scene of the mock DUI performance Friday afternoon at Bradley Central to carry away the student in critical condition.
“Drinking and driving is one of the worst mistakes you can ever make,” said Randa Rhodes, the teen actor who called 911. “It costs a lot, not only for you, but for all the other lives you are impacting.”
“Texting and driving is a huge issue right now,” said Taylor True, another student actor.
“Most kids think, ‘It’s only a little drink or it’s only one text message. Nothing can happen to me,’” said student Cody Glover.
County Fire and Rescue Chief Dewey Woody said the demonstration is designed to make teens aware of danger.
“There’s very few ways public safety, fire and rescue, law enforcement, can interact with kids of this age,” Chief Woody said. “This could directly impact them for the rest of their lives.”
Student Haley Bishop, who took part in the mock wreck, said the issue was personal for her.
“This is really important to me because my mom was hit by a drunk driver, me and her both, and it disabled her for life,” she said.
Continue reading by following this link to a related story:
Randall Higgins covers news in Cleveland, Tenn., for the Times Free Press. He started work with the Chattanooga Times in 1977 and joined the staff of the Chattanooga Times Free Press when the Free Press and Times merged in 1999. Randall has covered Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and Alabama. He now covers Cleveland and Bradley County and the neighboring region. Randall is a Cleveland native. He has bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Technological University. His awards ...
Or login with:
New Account