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18 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, June 8, 1999 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Mock accident sends stark message to students Perils of drunk driving are highlighted | in effort Dy students, emergency workers By Jeff Mitchell ort Perry Star Impaired driving is believed to be the cause of a car accident last week that left two Scugog Township resi- dents dead. Durham Regional Police say a 19-year-old township man faces charges of impaired dri- ving causing death and criminal negligence causing death in connec- tion with the accident, which killed his 18-year- old girlfriend. An infant also died after being thrown from a vehicle driven by his mother. That woman, who was trapped in her vehicle after the young man's Pontiac slammed into it, was airlifted to Sunnybrook 'Health Sciences Centre in Toronto with serious injuries. The two high school students were celebrat- ing their school's annual formal night when the accident occurred, said police. The girl died at the scene. The 19-year-old driver is in custody, awaiting a bail hearing. ...That's the way the newspapers would sum «Dr. J. Cottrell «Dr. J. Hardy *Dr. L. Gideon « Dr. C. Banfield «Dr. L. Poranganel « Dr. T. King (Orthodontist) Dr. T. Mcintyre (Periodontist) All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today up the fatal accident that was created Thursday morning by students from Port Perry High School. Two cars, too much booze, two lives lost; the aftermath of a thoughtless act that needn't have led to tragedy. The tremendous cost of impaired driving was the message in the pre- sentation Thursday morning at Port Perry's fairgrounds. With the help of local police, fire and ambulance services, Port Perry High School students simulated a drunk driving accident, from the point of impact to the arrival of a hearse to collect the victims. Students in the OAC business administration class at the school orga- nized the event, attend- ed by an estimated 1,500 students from PPHS and the R.H. Cornish and S.A. Cawker elementary schools. Organizer Devon Marshall said he and his classmates pre- sented the scenario as a means of reminding their friends to think twice about drinking and driving. "Although there has- n't been a fatality in Port lhl ® 80 Water St., Port Perry *Free Delivery in a Limited Arca Dental Care For The Entire Family Evening & Saturday Appointments Available Please Call 985-8451 Visit our website: www.iluvmydentist.com 238 Queen Street, Port Perry Port Perry High School students, including Ashley Sauder, staged a mock accident at the fair- grounds Thursday for a large group of local young Perry for quite some time as far as students are concerned, we don't want it to happen," he said. While students and the rest of us are bom- barded constantly with anti drinking and dri- ving messages, there 'remains a segment will- ing to take the risk, said Mr. Marshall. He thinks presenting the accident scenario, with all its stark realism, may have more impact than dis- tributing literature or inviting speakers to spread the message. "People do drink and drive; we know that," he said. "We just hope we can change some of their minds." Thursday's audience arrived to find two vehi- cles covered with tarps sitting on the track in Head injury group will hold AGM PIZZA & SUBS 0-041. a in the Find us fast we Yellow Pages : . Os 91M i June 30/99 WE DELIVER TO THESE AREAS - front of the fairgrounds grandstand. As the pre- sentation began there -was a shriek of squeal- ing tires, then the sound of a tremendous impact. The tarps were thrown back to reveal the scene: The two cars smashed together, a girl lying on the hood of a big Pontiac after being thrown through the windshield. An infant in a car seat lay on the roadway, hav- ing been thrown from the smaller Plymouth driven by his mother. She remained trapped in her car. The driver of the Pontiac, a young man in a suit, staggered out of the car, blood streaming down his face. His cries to his girlfriend blended with those of the woman in the car, who called out for her baby. annual Aas 1 TED 0) (99 fu + cE June Plus fax P ll stleton, Cac: The Head Injury Association of Durham Region will hold their general Wednesday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial Albert United Church, JEFF MITCHELU/PORT PERRY STAR people. The exercise, organized by OAC students, was designed to warn against the perils of drinking and driving. Other young people, friends of those in the collision, arrived on the scene and called 911. A. police officer arrived first. The girl, in a blue party dress, died before an ambulance arrived, and was covered with a windbreaker. The ambulance and firefighters arrived, sirens screaming, and went to work. Paramedics assessed and tended to the vic- tims, while firefighters set about freeing the woman from her car. As they tore the roof from her vehicle, her baby died and was cov- ered with a yellow sheet. Attendants from a funeral home arrived to remove the deceased. The young driver sat in the back of a police cruis- er, observing it all. meeting on It all made for a grim scenario, but was an accurate depiction of what occurs at the scene of such a serious acci- dent. "I think it was effec- tive," Mr. Marshall said as students filed out of the stands. He said the timing of the presentation is cru- cial, as school will soon be ending and young people will have party- ing on their minds. "Everybody's getting ready to go out and have a good time," said Mr. Marshall. "That's all right, just don't let alco- hol (consumption) affect you and others." The students were aided in their presenta- tion by Scugog firefight- ers, Durham Regional Police, and Rural\ Metro Ambulance Service. 19 Rosehill Boulevard, Oshawa. 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