reenactment illuminates the tragedy of drinking and driving 

On the eve of prom, students witness how drinking and driving can alter lives forever

Liberty juniors and seniors watched in stunned silence while a classmate was “arrested” for felony D.W.I./vehicular manslaughter and another “killed” during a D.W.I. accident simulation at Liberty High School on May 12 - the day before the senior prom. Nine students and over 40 emergency service members from five municipalities participated in the simulation.

The mock-accident scene, which was located in the high school parking lot, told the tale of a head-on collision between a packed car of prom-bound teens and another vehicle. The cries and screams of the victims echoing through the loud speaker and the convergence of numerous emergency vehicles including fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars drove home the significance of the simulation – drinking and driving kills and speed kills.

The simulation, coordinated by Assistant High School Principal Anthony Sinacore, is done every other year. “What we saw today is too often a reality and we don’t want to lose a single student in such a tragic, senseless way,” said Sinacore. “That is why we do this and why our local emergency personnel give their time to do this.”

The simulation included emergency personnel from J. C. Young Hose Company, Swan Lake and White Sulphur Springs Fire Departments, Grahamsville and Liberty Ambulance Squads as well as the Liberty Police Department. Throughout the reenactment, J.C. Young Captain John Nichols explained what was happening and why. Emergency workers used the Jaws of Life to cut doors and roofs off the cars and removed victims from the scene. The “driver” was given a field sobriety test and placed under arrest by Liberty Police. The sobering conclusion to the simulation was the arrival of the coroner, who pronounced one victim dead and took the teen away in a body bag.

The students who participated in the simulation included Greg Bradley, Gretchen Call, Lori Copeland, Erik Cuellar, Seleina Dingevan, Melanie Downing, Dan Hopkins, Danielle Lake, Gwen Nieves, Sarah Skriloff, Luis Torres and Cassondra Velasquez. Those involved at the “accident scene” stood on the auditorium stage after the reenactment in blood-splattered costumes as Captain Nichols spoke to the crowd. Nichols, a 1985 Liberty graduate, recalled a classmate who died in a car accident on the night of his graduation. “I’ll never forget him at graduation – he was the first one to get his diploma. He never saw another morning,” said Nichols. “I don’t ever want that to be you.”