Tennessee teenagers shown the horrors of car accidents

Across the United States, senior students are about to graduate and planning what to wear and do for their proms. Unfortunately, prom night is known as an evening of possible bad decisions. This is why a Tennessee high school used its Students Against Destructive Decisions gathering to illustrate the consequences of irresponsible decisions to the students of the school by showing them what being in car accidents is really like.

On a recent Friday in April, the students of the high school witnessed an enactment of exactly what happens in a fatal accident. The enactment simulated a fatal accident in which a number of people died, and it focused on illustrating the consequences of both distracted driving and drunk driving. Students were asked to act as victims, who, in some cases, had to be cut from cars, while others acted as parents looking for their children at an accident scene.

Two of the students involved in the simulation have testified to the success of the intended message. The reenactment made them aware of what one would really go through in case of an accident. It also made them aware of the dangers of riding with someone who has had too much to drink.

The aim of the simulation was to create awareness of dangers involved with driving and will hopefully lead to fewer teenagers driving while under the influence or texting while driving. Unfortunately, not everyone will heed the message. Thus, accidents involving young drivers will still happen.

Victims seriously injured in car accidents may choose to file personal injury claims against the alleged negligent or reckless drivers. Should the evidence indicate that negligence is the root cause of an accident, a Tennessee civil court may award financial damages to the aggrieved party. One can just hope that the students who attended the simulation will not be one of these victims.        

Source: jacksonsun.com, “Mock crash shows teens dangers of drunk driving”, Maranda Faris, April 22, 2016