St. Joseph students get sobering reminder from staged DUI crash on campus
Apr. 29—St. Joseph High School was the scene of a staged DUI crash Thursday, as part of California Highway Patrol's Every 15 Minutes program, which simulates horrific crashes to promote safe decision-making among students.
The two-day program rotates between high schools in the Santa Maria Valley each year, but COVID-19 delayed the event at St. Joseph for two years.
"We had one sophomore who waited two years to do this," said Dawnette Kingsley-Smith, programs director for Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, a local nonprofit dedicated to helping teens avoid drugs, alcohol, gangs and homelessness. "She was going to have a minor role at first, but she's had two years to take it on. It means a lot to her and the community."
With help from Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, sheriff's officials, county firefighters, Magner-Maloney Funeral Home and St. Joseph staff, CHP officers used several student volunteers to stage a DUI car crash in which students were medevaced via helicopter and arrested for drunken driving.
"As a student who drives often, it was scary to see how it played out, how realistic it was," said Robert Perez, senior and future Cal Poly student. "I know one of the students that 'passed,' and when the principal announced their death, it really touched my heart."
The scene was staged just outside the football stadium, where hundreds of students gathered to watch the scene unfold. Inside the crashed vehicles, students were staged as victims with fake injuries and fake blood. In reenacting the crash, firefighters used the Jaws of Life and other equipment as they would at a real crash scene.
The simulated deaths included a hospital visit, as well as obituaries for the "fallen" students.
"To many going through it, it feels very real. We try to maintain that as much as possible," said CHP Officer Maria Barriga, "It can be very impactful, not just for those going through it but [for] their friends and neighbors too. If we can save one life, then it's worth it."
After the simulated crash, arrest and medical evacuation on Thursday, the second day will feature a mock trial for the driver and funeral for the "deceased" on Friday.
"One of [the 'deceased'] is my first period classmates. They just came in and were like, 'he died.' That's a friend of mine," said Chuy Cisneros, junior. "It was enlightening to see things as real. It's easy to say it won't happen to me, and it really can."
From the time of the simulated accident until after the burial, "deceased" students do their best to refrain from speaking to parents, friends and community members. The following day they are "laid to rest" in front of the rest of the student population during an assembly.
"We have parents write goodbye letters to their kids; we read [the deceased's] obituary. It's really important we simulate that absence," said Kingsley-Smith. "We want the community to feel the impact firsthand."
Kingsley-Smith has been extremely motivated to combat drunken driving after losing her sister in 2008.
"My sister made the decision to get into the car that night with someone who'd been drinking behind the wheel," Kingsley-Smith said. "She was very smart and had she known the impact of that decision, she wouldn't have made it."
In her role with Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, Kingsley-Smith spends several months arranging for local emergency services to find the time and for CHP officers to make the trip to a Santa Maria high school. For her, it's important to spread awareness so that students can make a better decision.
"My sister died right there on [Highway] 101. The driver went to jail and the people in the back were just fine, except for some scratches," she said. "To me, if I didn't act, I wouldn't be honoring her. Her daughter comes and speaks during the funerals; we do this in her memory."
Every 15 Minutes was created in the early 1990s, and is based around the statistic that a person died from a drunken-driving crash every 15 minutes. It was first adopted in California in Chico in 1995, and has been a statewide program ever since. Although the name remains, the time in between deaths has increased to one every 20 to 50 minutes, depending on sources.
The program is put on statewide near CHP offices, including Santa Maria, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. According to Barriga, few are as invested as Santa Maria Valley high schools and Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley.
"Dawnette makes everything so easy for us," Barriga said. "[In] some places, CHP have to arrange these kinds of things on their own, but she spends months and months preparing for these. Her effort makes it simple for everyone involved."
