River Road High School students experience 'Shattered Dreams' with TxDOT demonstration
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), in partnership with area first responders, acted out "Shattered Dreams" for River Road High School students so they could see the consequences for driving under the influence, Wednesday afternoon in the high school's parking lot.
The event included members from the Potter County Fire-Rescue, Potter County Sheriff's Office, TxDOT, Emergency Medical Services, American Medical Services, Apollo MedFlight, Shafer Mortuary Services, as well as Judge Tracy Byrd, Randall County Justice of the Peace, and more.
To further the impact on the students and begin the precautionary exercise, a student was called out of class every 15 minutes and read their obituary that they prepared beforehand, to represent the underage youth who die from not wearing a seat belt, speeding, distracted driving and driving under the influence.
Following this, all of the River Road High School students viewed a live scenario of a fatal crash due to impaired driving, where each first responder fully enacted what would really happen — including viewing the Justice of the Peace announce their fellow classmate as dead and watching one friend being placed in a body bag and the other being airlifted to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries.
"We try to do this every four years; that way, every student got to see it at least once," said LaViza Matthews, traffic safety specialist for the TxDOT Amarillo district. "Their heart rate rises when they hear the sirens and see the lights. When your heart rate is up and your adrenaline is going, studies show that you remember things better, or you blank out on thing because it wasn't happening directly to them. Studies show that this reenactment helps reinforce the message of 'I don't want that to be me.' ... We took a student out in a body bag to represent those that have already passed, and it's horrible. There are no do-overs in real life, and that is why this message is so important."
During the event, Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas also played the role of death standing over the children, as they acted out the scenario of being dangled between life and death.
River Road High School Assistant Principal Logan Askins stated that she played a role in selecting the students who would be chosen to represent those that die every 15 minutes and read their obituary and those that would be acting out the impaired driving scenario.
"We took 18 kids to represent those that died and were injured today, and we just choose kids that are really big leaders in this school, some athletes, some of them in theater, as well as kids that we thought were high risk or would potentially see this as more personally impactful. ... Overall, we chose three freshmen, four sophomores, five juniors and six seniors, and four more seniors and two juniors in the mock crash," Askins said.
"I feel that this exercise will have an impact on our students, especially those that had to write their obituary last night; it was something that I could see stuck with them. I know the majority of the student body also will at the very least think twice before driving under the influence," Askins added.
According to TxDOT and River Road ISD, they will host another precautionary exercise for the students involving a rollover vehicle sometime in May.
For more information about TxDOT and "Shattered Dreams," visit them online at https://www.txdot.gov/ .
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: First responders act out 'Shattered Dreams' crash at River Road HS
