Every 15 Minutes: simulated teenage DUI accident

Las+Vegas+Metropolitan+Police+Department+%28LVMPD%29+identify+the+student+who+is+dead+at+the+accident+scene+simulated+for+the+high+school+student+body.+

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) identify the student who is “dead” at the accident scene simulated for the high school student body.

10 percent of drivers on the road are teenagers. 33 percent of people involved in car crashes are teenagers, and 40 percent of those accidents are alcohol related.  Faith Lutheran learned this news on Thursday, September 7th. Students were presented with a program called Every 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes, is a program dedicated to teaching students all about the dangers of drunk driving.

The program recieved its name from an experiment conducted about drunk driving, which revealed that every 15 minutes someone dies in an accident involving a drunk driver. Police officers, coroners, doctors, and the fire department put on a simulation about the risks of teenagers driving drunk.

Zoe Hillock, who has been attending Faith Lutheran for three years, said “I was shocked, but yet I wasn’t shocked at the same time, mainly because you see car crashes on TV all the time and then once you see one thats simulated, right in front of you, it’s like woah.”

There are lessons to take away from this experience, and students said they are still stunned at the accuracy of the demonstration. “I was kind of amazed of how realistic they made it to show us what would happen,” said Kelsey Howryla, a Faith high school student.

Tomorrow, Every 15 Minutes will return on campus with a presentation of what happened with the “victims” of the accident.  The goal of this program is to raise awareness of how deadly drinking and driving can be.