“Haddam Fire and EMS, you are responding to the area of the Haddam-Killingworth High School for a car versus tree with multiple injuries reported.”
Hours earlier the party started with “Don’t be a lightweight” and “C’mon man, have one more,” before the conversation degenerated into “Are you ok to drive?”
Hours earlier the party started with “Don’t be a lightweight” and “C’mon man, have one more,” before the conversation degenerated into “Are you ok to drive?”
Halfway home the intoxicated driver gets a text – “yo where u at?”
You know what happens next: A crash, shattered glass and lives cut short.
On May 15, members of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company extricated four young people from a mangled car while their classmates looked on in silence. The driver was arrested, one passenger died and two others were transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The mock accident, sponsored by Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD), was staged for the Haddam-Killingworth High School Senior Class. H-K Drama Club students convincingly played their roles as the victims. The sobering scenario was designed to emphasize the dangers of underage drinking and driving, as well as texting behind the wheel.
“One of the most difficult things we deal with as First Responders is a young driver and passengers who die because of a bad decision,” said Haddam Fire Chief Gary Klare. “It’s a tragedy that doesn’t have to happen.”
Several Emergency Service agencies – the HVFCo., Connecticut State Police, Haddam Volunteer Ambulance Service and Life Star Critical Care Helicopter – responded as if it were the real thing.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 15 to 20. Inexperience and immaturity combined with speed, drinking and drug use, not wearing seat belts and distracted driving only aggravate the problem.
Most people think that drinking is the leading cause of teenage accidents, but studies show that texting while driving has become an even greater hazard among teenagers who openly acknowledge sending and reading text messages while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.
The number of teens dying or being injured as a result of texting while driving has skyrocketed as mobile technology has advanced. Researchers at Cohen Children’s Medical Center estimate more than 3,000 annual teen deaths nationwide from texting and 300,000 injuries.
The number of teens dying or being injured as a result of texting while driving has skyrocketed as mobile technology has advanced. Researchers at Cohen Children’s Medical Center estimate more than 3,000 annual teen deaths nationwide from texting and 300,000 injuries.
The habit now surpasses the number of teens who drink and drive, but the death rate from drinking and driving remains a close second: An estimated 2,700 young people die each year as a result of driving under the influence of alcohol and 282,000 are treated in emergency rooms for injuries suffered in motor-vehicle crashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There are more distractions for our teenage drivers than ever before,” Klare said. “Add alcohol, drugs and texting to that, something bad is going to happen.”
For more information, please visit SADD’s website, www.sadd.org.
Do You Have What It Takes? Find out more about the activities of the HVFCo. and ways you can get involved at www.HaddamFire.com, or connect with us on Facebook.
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