I died today: Drunk driving simulation teaches responsibility

In the background, students with painted faces look on, solemnly representing the souls of teenagers killed in alcohol-related car accidents. 

Usually, an easily avoidable accident like this one would spell out unimaginable grief for several families.

The alcohol-related car crash on the school’s football field on April 11, however, was staged. Despite this, more than 1,400 students and teachers were affected by the “crash” and mock funeral the following day.

This year, the school worked for the fourth time with the national organization Every 15 Minutes to bring its program to campus. The organization selects schools from a pool of applicants, which can only participate in the program every four years because of the extensive preparation it requires. 

The administration wanted the students to learn about good decision-making.

“I don’t think there are any kids or adults who always think their way through everything,” said assistant principal Karen Hyde. “How many times are you driving behind someone who’s slowing and stopping and [turns out], they’re texting? That’s a decision—that ‘I don’t need to text. I can pull over. Or I can wait until I’m someplace where I can text.’”

Planning for this event started last spring, headed by seniors Christine Bancroft and Mac Hyde and junior Spencer Goldman. They were later joined by the rest of the events commission, consisting of seniors Jasmine Grant, Denise Lin and Claire Couch, juniors Michael Lee and Shreyas Doshi and sophomore Jennie Werner. 

Later, a parent group headed by Susan Bancroft, Bancroft’s mother, and Kathy McBride was formed to communicate with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the American Medical Response (AMR). These two agencies participated in the simulation, providing policemen and ambulances.

Twenty students participated in the simulation as well. The participating students were selected by the events commission.

“We chose the people that died based on gender, race, grade, activities, classes, interests and social connections,” Grant said. “We tried very hard to make sure that everyone in the audience would have a face they recognized either in the car or on the field.”

Grant joined the project in the beginning of this year, and struggled to keep this large event a secret.

“We were not allowed to tell anyone about the program before it happened [including] my family. I told my mother that I wouldn't be able to drive my brother to school that Wednesday or Thursday, but little else,” Grant said. 

Grant feels that the stress leading up to Every 15 Minutes was worth it.

“The widespread emotion and reverberation of feelings throughout the school was very gratifying,” Grant said. “We were proud of being able to make so many people think and feel what it would be like to lose a friend of relative to a drunk driving accident. It hit home for a lot of people.”

Despite the positive intent, Hyde is aware of the many criticisms of the event, some proclaiming the event insensitive and a waste of time. Hyde, however, feels the event was necessary to bring across the school’s “good decision making” message.

“I kept thinking about the goal, not the process,” Hyde said. “It was arduous; it took tons and tons of time to do it. But if we had a kid who was in a drunk driving accident, could I look at myself in the mirror and … say [to] myself, ‘No, better not do this, better to acquiesce to the social pressures than to save a kids life?’ I couldn’t do it.”

Senior Brandon Oliveri O’Conner, who played the drunk driver in the simulation, said he “found out [about Every 15 Minutes] less than a week before.”

The participants, on the night of April 11, were taken to stay in a convent in the Los Gatos Mountains for the duration of the simulation. 

“It was really cute. It was a little adobe house with a bunch of small rooms with beds,” said freshman Natalie Miller, who played a “soul” in the simulation. “It was really nice.”

Oliveri O’Conner said he “was really glad to have been a part of it. The program is excellent. I would definitely do it again.” 

Oliveri O’Conner said that although his family was reluctant to have him participate in the program at first, they eventually changed their mind. 

“At first they were reluctant because they didn't want me to go to jail,” Oliveri O’Conner said. “But after a little bit, they were totally fine with it.”

Senior Izzy Albert, who played a victim in the simulation, recounted how real the experience felt.

“The 911 calls were going on the loudspeaker, and it started to feel so real,” Albert said. “I knew it was fake, but I was so scared. I remember trying to suppress how badly my body was shaking.”

Albert said the most emotional part of the entire experience occurred when she was taken to the hospital.

“They pronounced me dead in the hospital, and they all left the room,” Albert said. “I was dead, and that was it. All of a sudden, I heard screaming from the next room over, which was separated from mine by only a curtain. I heard a man crying and screaming ‘my son.’ I knew it was Sasan’s dad, and I was terrified. His emotions were so raw, so real, and I remember talking to Sasan after, and he said he couldn’t even recognize his dad by his voice.”

Miller recalled that one of the hardest parts of the simulation for her was when her friend, freshman Maddie Sloan, read the eulogy for Miller.

“When I saw my best friend walk up to the podium I just broke down,” Miller said. “I was very happy because she said really sweet things, but I was also really depressed because I knew if I really had died I would have never gotten to say goodbye. That’s what really hit me about drinking and driving, the worst part is that it’s so sudden.”