VERO BEACH — Drivers traveling south on 20th Avenue from 16th Street slowed to a crawl Tuesday morning, taking in the sight of a head-on collision between two cars and a motorcycle lodged underneath. Bystanders in prom dresses and tuxes screamed in horror and pain as they watched more than a dozen emergency responders work to extract those who were trapped inside and place white sheets on those who didn’t make it.
For as real as the scene may have looked, it was an educational show, a lesson to the several hundred seniors at Vero Beach High School to not drink and drive – a lesson that comes just before prom.
In all, 10 students were involved in the three-vehicle crash. One was arrested immediately. Two died on the scene. A third, who was airlifted by Air Rescue to an area trauma center, was dead on arrival.
“This is a quick learning process,” said Principal Eric Seymour of the half-hour long drama.
He said it was a lesson the school tried to send home with students when the school offered Driver’s Education courses.
“Hopefully, they understand the importance” of not drinking and driving, he added.
For the last 16 years, Vero Beach High School has partnered with Indian River County Fire Rescue to put on the mock DUI program in the hope of preventing a real tragedy from occurring.
Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Cory Richter said in the years leading up to implementing the program, there had been several cases of student-related DUI crashes involving serious injuries. But it wasn’t until the mid-1990s, when there was a fatality, that Fire Rescue decided to reach out to the School District.
“That was the last straw,” Richter said.
He said in the years following the implementation of the mock DUI program in Indian River County, not only have there been no student-related DUI events around prom, but also no student-related DUIs any time of year.
“Obviously, it’s worked,” Richter said.
He noted that the implications of drunk driving can be astronomical, especially when there is a fatality involved. Innocent people – those who didn’t drink and drive and were just in the wrong place at the wrong time – are often the ones who get hurt.
“If we can save one life, it’s worth it,” Richter said.