April 9 , 2006

Students to get first-hand lesson in dangers of drinking and driving

Every 30 minutes someone in the United States dies in an alcohol-related traffic crash. This statistic will take on new meaning this week for students at Colleyville Heritage High School as they participate in a mock drinking and driving collision.

At 10 a.m. Thursday, the mock crash will be staged on the northeast driveway at CHHS. Seven students will be involved in the simulated collision, as will CHHS teacher Tom Brandt. Police and fire officials from Colleyville, Grapevine and Bedford will serve as first responders. CareFlight will also be on the scene as will representatives from Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home.

The mock accident is part of a two-day program, “Shattered Dreams,” designed to illustrate the dangerous consequences of drinking and driving. CHHS juniors and seniors will visit the crash site throughout the school day on Thursday, and all students will hear powerful testimonies from guest speakers during Friday assemblies. In addition, 45 students will participate in an overnight retreat at Baylor Regional Medical Center of Grapevine.

“Through this program, the dangers and consequences of drinking and driving really hit home with students,” said Robin Davis, CHHS student advocate services counselor and coordinator of the program. “I am thrilled that the community is so supportive of this initiative, and I truly feel that it makes students take a serious look at their decisions and how they impact others.”

In its fifth year at CHHS, the program has been offered every other year since 1999. Participating sponsors of the program include Baylor Regional Medical Center of Grapevine, B&B Wrecker of Euless, State Farm Insurance, Colleyville Municipal Court, Albertson’s on Glade Road, Starbucks on Glade Road, Market Street, Krispy Kreme, Jason’s Deli and Wal-Mart in Bedford. The students participating in the simulated crash and retreat are all members of Students Against Destructive Decisions, or SADD.

Friday’s assemblies will feature comments from Gina Medlin, the wife of Grapevine Police Officer Darren Medlin who was killed in a drunken driving crash in 2004, and two inmates who are serving time in Texas prisons for intoxication manslaughter.

“This program, along with the numerous other education and awareness programs to prevent drunk driving are working,” said Colleyville Police Officer Bill Hudgins. “We have successfully extended the ‘Every 15 Minutes’ theme to ‘Every 30 Minutes,’ meaning that we have cut the serious injuries and deaths caused by drunk drivers in half.”

According to Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, although the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities has declined since 1980, drunken driving still remains the nation’s most frequently committed violent crime. Each year, nearly 17,000 people nationwide are killed and more than half a million others are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. More than 6,000 young people ages 15-20 die each year due to alcohol-related causes including traffic collisions. In Texas, 45 percent of all traffic deaths in 2005 were alcohol related. In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that about three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives.