East Hamilton High School senior Nathan Trew walked outside class Thursday morning to find a few friends sitting inside two beat-up cars in post-crash positions.
“Are you guys supposed to be mimes or zombies?” the 18-year-old joked, seeing fake blood and white paint streaming across their faces.
The Grim Reaper – actually Bre Ramey, 17, a fellow senior – spoke up.
“Their faces are white because they lost a lot of blood,” she said.
Trew nodded before walking up the hill next to the school’s football field, joining hundreds of juniors and seniors who, judging by their chatter, were grateful for a few moments outside.
They became silent when a sudden BOOM! marked the beginning of a simulated car crash caused by drinking and driving.
Madison Merritt, 16, frantically ran around, playing the role of the relatively unharmed friend who had been riding in the back seat.
“The designated driver is not the one who’s had the least to drink, but the one who’s had nothing to drink,” the narrator said over loudspeakers.
Less than five minutes elapsed between the “crash” and the arrival of a Chattanooga Fire Department truck and five Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies. It seemed longer.
Coordinated by the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department and other agencies, Thursday morning’s event occurred nine days before the school’s prom night. In 2009, about 3,000 Americans ages 15-19 died in car crashes, according to a Health Department news release.
“If this changes the mind of one kid and prevents one kid from drinking out of all of these hundreds, it would be worth it all,” said Robin Hardy, mother of one of the students taking part in the production.
Miranda Hardy, an 18-year-old senior and Robin Hardy’s daughter, was sprawled across the hood of one of the cars, motionless.
An emergency responder covered her with a white sheet. Only her brown hair was visible.
“I started crying,” Miranda Hardy said. “It’s surreal hearing people freak out like that.”
Police chatter, sirens and other emergency clamor punctured the otherwise clear day.
Robin Hardy, who was playing herself in the production, sprinted to the scene, only to be restrained by a female emergency worker.
“Where’s my daughter?” she screamed. “Where’s my baby?”