Sparta — On a chilly late-April morning, hundreds of Sparta High School juniors and seniors filed outside and gathered around an unsettling sight: a minivan and an SUV locked together in a mess of twisted metal, with several of their classmates slouching motionless inside both vehicles.
The tough-to-stomach tableau was the centerpiece of a demonstration about the dangers of distracted driving, so the onlookers knew their classmates weren’t in any real danger. But the sight still made it clear just how dangerous it can be to take your eyes off the wheel.
Various emergency services providers, first-responders and law enforcement agencies staged the simulated head-on collision in a parking lot adjacent to the high school, with students playing the roles of “victims” of the crash. The demonstration was presented by Grand Valley Metro Council, and funded using a grant from the Office of Highway Safety Planning.
‘We all are so attached to our phones, and we can get distracted so easily. It just takes one person to do something wrong. That really had an effect on me, getting to see that.’
— senior Allie Amlotte
Senior Tristan Prentice narrated, walking students through the scenario — a drive to prom that turned fatal due to a student’s failure to pay attention to the road. Tristan offered up statistics about distracted driving incidents as he went.
“In the final moments before a crash, drivers often have their eyes off the road for no more than 3 seconds. That’s it — just a few seconds,” Tristan told the gathered students.
He asked them to pay close attention to the demonstration and to take it seriously, as if they were witnessing the real thing.
“This isn’t just about watching something,” he said. “It’s about thinking differently the next time you’re behind the wheel.”
A Scary but Necessary Exercise
The demonstration lasted about an hour, spanning the immediate aftermath of the “crash,” and the more long-term fallout, including a teary “funeral” for one student, and a mock prosecution of the at-fault driver.
Senior Allie Amlotte had the unenviable task of portraying the student who died. Allie said that despite the fact that the whole experience was staged, it was still unnerving to hear the sirens wailing toward her, and the Jaws of Life prying open the door of the car she was positioned in.
“It was a little scary,” Allie said. “Even though I knew everyone was fine, we still heard these loud bangs. … It’s a very surreal experience.”
She said she was happy to play the part, because the cause is an important one.
“We all are so attached to our phones, and we can get distracted so easily,” she said. “It just takes one person to do something wrong. That really had an effect on me, getting to see that.”
Junior Lauren Bradford and seniors Ethan Frey and Star Potter also had parts to play. Their characters survived the crash, but sustained some injuries, and had to be taken to safety by EMTs from Rockford Ambulance.
“It felt very real, even though it was just a demonstration,” said Lauren.
But like Allie, Lauren felt that it was all worth it.
“I just think it’s important to bring awareness to it,” she said, “because it’s so easy to just go on your phone, and that could take someone’s life.”
Ethan agreed, though he added that he, Allie and Star managed to keep things light during the exercise.
“It was a little fun,” he admitted, looking ever-so-slightly guilty. “We cracked some jokes afterwards.”
Star said the student actors didn’t necessarily know what was happening from one minute to the next, which added to the tension of it all.
“It was really interesting to be part of this, and they put us in it without a lot of prior information, which I think added to us not knowing what was happening, being confused, being scared,” she said.
She added that the message of the demonstration is an important one, especially for high-school students.
“I know people who are very distracted drivers, so it makes sense that we’re doing this, and it’s good that we’re bringing awareness to it,” she said.
The Program Works
Assistant Principal Matt Landry helped oversee the exercise, along with Principal Stacey Rumsey and Andrea Faber, senior transportation planner with GVMC.
Landry said SHS jumped at the chance to host one of the demonstrations “because it’s an important message for all of our kids to hear.”
“Our whole point behind wanting to do this: If this prevents one person from doing (what) could have caused an accident, … it makes it totally worthwhile.”
Faber said GVMC has received positive feedback about the demonstrations, of which there will be four this year.
“It’s been really cool to see the community support behind it,” she said. “We’ve talked with a number of people who have seen similar demonstrations in high school, and sometimes 20 years later they still remember it vividly. So I believe the program’s effective.”
GVMC still has a few spots to fill for its high school crash demonstrations. Schools interested in hosting a demonstration can reach her at andrea.faber@gvmc.org to request more information.
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