Every 15 Minutes Asks Students to Consider Grim Statistic

A teen driver is dead and two others suffered serious injuries after they were involved in a head-on vehicle collision on Keokuk Street outside Monday morning.

Don’t panic. The above news is only a simulation, part of program—complete with smashed cars, broken glass and fake blood—that educates teens about the dangers of drinking and driving. Called Every 15 Minutes, its goal is to create a deterrent for teens who may be tempted to drive under the influence. And, police say, it’s paying off.

“Since starting the program in 1998, we’ve had no fatal collisions involving drivers under 21 years old that were alcohol related,” Petaluma Police Department Sergeant Ken Savano said. “This really works.”

Every 15 Minutes, which rotates among Petaluma high schools every year, mixes theatrics, real cops and firefighters and parents who are notified of their teens’ “deaths.” On Monday, students watched an accident scene in which a girl lay “dead” under a car, a young man was pinned inside a truck and had to extricated and another girl was “thrown” from a car and said she could not feel her body.

Students sat in the bleachers and watched in hushed silence as the “dead” girl was placed in a body bag, her friends wailing nearby, another arrested for causing the accident and injured students wheeled away on gurneys. Especially powerful was the silence that hung in the air after the obituary of the girl who “died” in the accident was read.

Some students said they found the simulation "phony" but were impressed by a speaker at today's assembly whose drinking caused a fatal accident resulted in the death of his friends.

"There were a few of my friends didn't take this seriously," said Derek Murphy, 15, a freshman at St. Vincent's High School. "It was really powerful to see a guy, 25, who is just a few years older than us crying because he killed his friends. Sometimes you forget how dangerous it is drink and drive."

A crew filmed the simulation and will produce a short video about the accident. In addition to the crash scene, they also film the drunk driver getting “booked” at the police station and the two injured students be transported and “admitted” to Petaluma Valley Hospital. Meanwhile, parents of 18 students who “died” in the simulated exercise, are visited at home or work by chaplains notifying them of the bad news.

The video is then given to the school to use as an educational tool. Today, on the second day of the program, there is an assembly where students and teachers speak about the impact of the program. Meanwhile, a group of select students who "died" go on a retreat and write letters to their parents, giving students to reflect on what kind of impact their deaths would have on their families.

"If I were to talk to them on any subject for an hour they would be restless," said John Walker, principal of St. Vincent de Paul High School. "It's very hard to hold the attention of teenagers for that long. Today they sat in their seats and didn't move for an hour.” 

First responders, many of who participate in the program every year at local schools, also say that Every 15 Minutes is getting through. 

“You look at their faces and you can tell they’re at least thinking about it,” said Craig Marston, a Petaluma firefighter. “It’s very moving.”