Friday April 17, local emergency service departments partnered with the Aliso Niguel administration and Associated Student Body (ASB) to set up a mock crash. All juniors and seniors were scheduled to watch the crash during wolverine plus with the goal of promoting safe driving in young adults.
The mock crash involved many groups from around the county to act as if the emergency was a real one. Part of the set up included student actors and ASB members from Aliso working with the Orange County Fire Department and Police Department, among others.
Greg Kaloustian (11), the actor for the drunk driver in the production, says, “All of these different people worked together to produce the scene, like makeup for the actors to make it more believable and impactful. We also recorded an audio beforehand that showed the people in the car before the crash and the events leading up to it.”
The emergency service personnel and our very own student actors worked together to show a story of how drunk driving resulted in major injuries and deaths for people in both cars of the collision. It took careful preparation to make the events realistic so the mock crash could fulfill its purpose to warn high school drivers.
Kaloustian expressed the overall goal of the presentation, “We hope that with the mock crash, we prevent as many young adults as possible from drinking and driving. If we even impact one person in the audience, the scene would be worth it in the end.”
The story displayed a crash between cars full of high school students after prom. The driver of one of the cars had been drinking, leading to the accident and serious implications for everyone in both cars.
To make the scene realistic, the emergency services for Orange County came out and acted as if the crash was real, sending some students off in ambulances and others in the mortuary van. The police also conducted a field sobriety test on the driver, explaining to the audience of juniors and seniors that driving impaired has extreme consequences.
Laurel Thurman (12) said, “I think it was helpful for students to at least see what a car crash would look like and what would happen if they were involved in one. Even if not everyone will take it seriously, it’s still valuable to have the experience and know what to expect from unsafe driving.”
After the scene finished, Dr. Mahindrakar said a few words to solidify the point of the mock crash. He emphasized how important it was to make good decisions because the consequences are very real. Especially with prom following less than a month after the mock crash, the Aliso administration aimed to prove that these crashes have happened and will happen if students make the bad decision to drink and drive.
Thurman had one note for a potential improvement of the mock crash in order to more thoroughly impact the student audience, “Since this was based on an actual crash, maybe some retellings from people who witnessed it or a recount from those actually involved so everyone sees how it actually affects real people.”
