Newport Harbor High School Paints a Sobering Picture of Drunk Driving

The horrific scene on 15th Street unfolded directly in front of , where minutes earlier the four teen-agers involved in the carnage were just like the majority of their senior classmates.  Healthy, happy and looking forward to graduation. 

Now, a male student, battered and bloody, lay motionless on the pavement.  He appears to be dead.  Nearby, another teen, badly injured, is trapped inside an overturned midsized car. In the other vehicle, a blue hatchback, two girls remain in their seats. The passenger is unconscious.

The driver appears unhurt.  But later, we will learn, she was also drunk.

Fortunately, the fatal accident scene was staged ... this time.  The damaged cars were placed by law enforcement officers, and the prosthetic cuts and gashes, as well as the theatrical blood generously applied to the "victims," wreckage and surrounding asphalt, were courtesy of a Knott's Berry Farm wardrobe supervisor and makeup artist.

The result was a grisly taste of reality.  This is what happens when you drive under the influence of alcohol. 

Such is the message of “Every 15 Minutes,” a national program presented Tuesday at Newport Harbor High School.  It is sponsored locally by a variety of law enforcement and public safety agencies, as well as several businesses, in an effort to stem the number of alcohol-related road deaths, particularly among teens.  The title of the program is based on the premise that someone in America dies every 15 minutes as a result of an alcohol-impaired driver.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 10,000 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2009 in the United States.

To illustrate this, the program began that morning when "The Grim Reaper" and a Newport Beach police officer traveled from class to class, removing 20 student volunteers, representing the number of lives lost daily as the result of DUI-related accidents.  Once the "dead" student was led away, the student's obituary was read to the classroom.

Kim Pickard, whose daughter, Jordan, was a participant in the staged accident, had a difficult task leading up to the program.

"They made me write an obituary and a good-bye letter  for my 17-year-old daughter," she said.  "And it's her birthday today.  It was terrifying writing the letter.  My husband cried while we wrote it. "

Later, the senior class—minus 20 of their comrades—were led outside to bleachers to get a good look at the bloody accident scene.  Across the street, 16 of the students who had been taken by The Grim Reaper, their faces now covered in skeleton makeup, stood with The Reaper, silently staring at their classmates in the bleachers.

At first, some of the student spectators giggled and pointed at their friends, now playing the roles of accident victims, dead and injured.  But a simulated 911 call suddenly burst from the loudspeakers, a frantic voice reporting that a major injury accident had occurred across from the Newport Harbor campus.

The mood became more somber as police and rescue units arrived at the scene and began the grim process of removing the dead and attending to the injured.  Three motorycle officers were first on the scene, followed by fire trucks and an ambulance, their sirens blaring.  Firefighters tended to the injured girl in the hatchback from outside the vehicle, then freed her from the wreckage using the "jaws of life."  She was then placed in an ambulance, as was the girl trapped in the overturned vehicle.

A police officer conducted a field sobriety test on the hatchback's driver and, when she failed the test, placed her in the back of a squad car. 

Meanwhile, a firefighter tended to the student who lay dead on the pavement.  He filled out a toe tag and covered the body.  Then the coroner arrived and, with help from the firefighter, placed the "dead" teen-ager in a body bag, onto a gurney and loaded him into a hearse. 

As the coroner slowly drove away, The Grim Reaper and his 16 new charges walked solemnly behind the hearse.

The chilling parade of the dead from the accident scene left many in the crowd stunned.

Tori Sarris, Kristen Souzens, and Chelsea Barth, students who had assisted The Reaper in his harvest of students from the classrooms, watched the remainder of the program from the bleachers.

"I think it's a good program," Sarris said. "It means a lot to the people who are in it."

Barth agreed.  "I think it's such a good cause, especially for new drivers," she said.

Newport Harbor seniors were not the only people who benefitted from the program.  Lynn Blanchard, clinical director for New Directions for Women, a Costa Mesa-based drug and alcohol treatment program, brought 21 women from her program to observe the "Every 15 Minutes" event.

"We thought it would be a good idea for them to see what can happen when you're intoxicated while driving," Blanchard said.

Susan Meek, a Newport Harbor alumnus, works with Blanchard at New Directions for Women and in the Newport Harbor student store.

"I'm a recovering drug addict and alcoholic," Meek said.  "I've been sober for 19 years. I told Lynn [Blanchard] about this event.  I felt that seeing a staged drunk driving accident would have a huge impact on these women.  It would make them think twice about getting into a car while drunk or using."

Newport Beach Fire Captain R. Michael Ybarra acted as incident commander for the event. 

"I would hope this event will educate the students about the dangers of drinking and driving," Ybarra said.  "They're all too young to die and they have a long life to look forward to."

It appeared to have an impact on Haley Shradar and Cody McHardy, who discussed the event after it concluded.

"It made me want to think twice about drinking and driving," Shrader said.  "No one wants to wind up in prison."

"I looked at it as a learning experience," said McHardy. "I plan on being a firefighter.  I think it will make people think twice about the effects of what choices they make."

After the students left the area, NBPD Officer Vlad Anderson said, "I would hope that  kids and adults will make better choices and avoid the perils of getting behind the wheel while under the influence. What comes to mind is what happened yesterday."

He was referring to Sunday's alcohol-related crash that killed 14-year-old Ashton Sweet in Irvine.

Officer Marie Gamble, coordinator of the "Every 15 Minutes" program and school resource officer for Newport Harbor High, hopes they got their point across.

"I would hope that this program will make these kids think and drive safely," Gamble said.  "By safely I mean no alcohol, no drugs, no texting.  No distracted driving."

The Newport Beach Police and Fire Departments, the city of Newport Beach, the CHP, the USMC, Hoag Hospital, G&W Towing, the California Office of Traffic Safety, Knott’s Berry Farm, Ayers Hotel, Avila’s El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant, Newport Harbor High School ASB, Si-force, Pizza Bakery, the Newport Beach Police Association and the staff of Harbor High School hosted the annual  event.

The blood and prosthetics were provided by Knott's Berry Farm Wardrobe Supervisor Bill Meier and Monica Maldonado, a makeup artist at Knott's.