Mock crashes drive home real messageRidgefield authorities show students why drinking and driving dont mixBy News-Times Staff WriterSusan Tuz RIDGEFIELD — Sirens blared and a cloud of smoke rose from a smashed car at the entrance to Ridgefield High School early Wednesday morning.A second car sat behind it with a smashed windshield and four victims inside. Another victim was dead lying on the road.While the scene wasnt real its impact on the 1800 students watching the mock accident was palpable.Oh my God senior Gabrielle Stella exclaimed as firefighters cut the roof from the smashed Volvo to extricate those inside. I had no idea.The mock crash was an alcohol awareness program performed by students from the club Youth to Youth with the assistance of the Ridgefield police and fire departments.The scene was movingly real and left teens with the message that drinking and driving dont mix. The four people in the Volvo were supposed to have come from a party where they were drinking. The dead person was returning from visiting a friend and had not been drinking but died because someone else had been.I had no idea something like this happens every 15 minutes in America said junior Carly Cappello. It was eye-opening.Students from the Youth to Youth club approached their adviser last June and asked if a mock crash could be conducted at the school.We wanted to raise awareness that something like this could happen said sophomore Elizabeth Harris who was one of the actors. We wanted to make people think twice before drinking and driving.This was the first time in 10 years that an accident was dramatized for students in Ridgefield. The plan is now to do one every four years said School Resource Officer Fernando Luis.We wanted to give kids an awareness of what could happen Luis said. We wanted to get that message out before its too late.Lt. Brian T. Jones of the Ridgefield Fire Department organized the dramatization.Being able to assist in a performance like this and knowing that my son who is a senior at Ridgefield High this year was watching and can take away that alcohol and driving dont mix is a great feeling Jones said.Colleen Cortney a junior sat in the Volvo as the roof was cut away by firefighters.I was in the rear seat and they put the yellow protective blanket over me and the drills were really loud and the whole car was shaking Cortney said. I had this really nice firefighter next to me telling me what was going to happen next and that everything was going to be all right. I thought Imagine if I was dazed and drunk. This would be really terrifying.For the full story visit the News-Times On Line athttpwww.newstimes.comlocalnewsci9037105
