Students witness mock car crash at Richlands High School

RICHLANDS, Va. (WVVA) -Students at Richlands High School observed the aftermath of a mock car crash as a part of prom promise week.

It’s part of the school’s initiative to prevent this exact event from playing out on prom night.

Melissa Addison the EMR teacher at Richlands High School, helped set up the event.

“We’re just really hoping that it touches someone’s heart, so that they don’t drink and drive on prom night.”

The scenario was acted out by students and first responders in real time. The accident involved a car full of drunk students driving after prom night. The second vehicle was a father, with his baby in the back seat.

It started with a mock 9-1-1 call right after the crash occurred.

Richlands Police was first to arrive. Shortly after, Richlands Fire and Rescue arrived, and began working to free the trapped survivors. While this was happening, the officer performed a sobriety test on the drunk driver.

The drunk driver was then arrested for intoxication, manslaughter, and attempted vehicular manslaughter. The only survivors were the drunk driver, and the father from the second vehicle.

A mock funeral was held at the end for the innocent baby who lost his life in the accident.

Students, like Dalton Altizer a senior at Richlands High, felt the impact of the day’s events after witnessing such a scene. “There’s not a written promise and there’s not something that the school makes you do. But you walk out of here knowing “ok, I’m not going to do that when I get out of prom.””

The vehicles at Thursday’s event were provided to Richlands High School by Tri County Salvage of Castlewood and Lebanon.

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