On Feb. 10, 2016, Valencia High School simulated a drunk driving crash that resulted in the loss of many students. This event is put on as an effort to inform everyone the catastrophic effects that driving under the influence of any substance can induce. It’s no accident.

Video by Valencia Television | Valencia High School

Feb. 12, 2016

Background

[LASD] – The City of Santa Clarita, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and Valencia High School officials will join in partnership Wednesday, Feb. 10, to conduct the “Every 15 Minutes” program at Valencia High School.

“Every 15 Minutes” is a powerful event designed to dramatically instill teenagers with the potentially dangerous consequences of drinking alcohol, reckless driving and life choices. It also challenges students to think about the severe dangers associated with speed contests and texting while driving.

During the first day’s events, selected students will be removed from their classes, to represent those whose lives have been prematurely cut short due to a tragic accident. The students will later return to class as the “living dead.” From that moment on, the selected students will not be allowed to speak or interact with other students for the remainder of the school day.

A simulated traffic collision for the students will be viewable on the school grounds. Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel will be on site treating ‘injured’ student participants. Law enforcement will arrest and book the student “drunk driver,” transporting the student to the Santa Clarita Superior Court where a simulated conviction for ‘manslaughter’ will occur.

Student participants will continue their experience by an actual trip to the Eternal Valley Mortuary and a visit to the Santa Clarita Youth Grove. The Youth Grove in Central Park serves as a poignant reminder of the youth in Santa Clarita ages 24 and under who have lost their lives in traffic-related incidents.

The students involved in the two day “Every 15 minutes” program will then visit a local hotel for dinner, where community members who have experienced real-life drunk driving related tragedies will speak to them about it feels to lose a loved one in a drunk driving related incident.

Student participants will be asked to draft a somber letter to their parents that begins with:

“Dear Mom and Dad, yesterday I was killed by a drunk driver and I never got to tell you….”

On Thursday, February 11, 2016, there will be an assembly held at Valencia High School for juniors and seniors. There will be guest speakers at the assembly who had family members killed in crashes in Santa Clarita Valley. Their strong and emotional messages are to serve as a reminder to the students about the dangers associated with poor life choices.

Funding for the “Every 15 Minutes” program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the California Highway Patrol and the City of Santa Clarita.