Hempfield students participate in mock accident scenario ahead of prom

About 500 juniors and seniors gathered behind the press box at Hempfield Area High School Tuesday afternoon as a mock accident scene played out before them, part of an attempt by first responders across the county to warn students about the dangers of impaired and distracted driving prior to the school’s prom.

Sirens wailed down the driveway of the school around 1:30 p.m. as officials with Greensburg-based Mutual Aid Ambulance Service, alongside engines from Fort Allen, Hempfield #2 and Adamsburg fire stations, rushed to scene of a two-vehicle wreck involving a pedestrian. The vehicles, positioned prior to the start of the event, appeared to be involved in a head-on collision.

The scene, enacted by Hempfield Area students, consisted of an impaired driver and a distracted driver colliding and pinning a pedestrian who had been walking along the road at the time. Firefighters who responded to the scene cut the roof off the vehicle driven by the impaired driver to rescue a passenger, played by senior Nick Haubrick.

The other vehicle in the scenario involved three girls who were distracted by a conversation. When the two vehicles collided, a sixth classmate walking down the road was pinned between the two vehicles and “died,” according to John Storey, deputy fire chief for the Hempfield Township Fire Department.

The pedestrian was played by junior C.J. Frederickson, who was placed in a body bag after first responders removed him from between the vehicles.

“While this may seem like an over-the-top scenario, we have multiple problems on that road that we face every day,” Storey told students. “The first is an impaired driver. That’s dangerous enough, but when we take and we have to read messages or send messages or take pictures, now we’re adding another element into that that we can no longer react.”

As the scene played out in the high school parking lot, speakers with Mutual Aid, state police and the Westmoreland County Coroner walked students through their role during the accident. Through that, students saw a field sobriety test for the intoxicated driver, played by senior Matthew Miller, who was “arrested” by police after failing the test.

Students also learned about efforts made to reach family members following a fatal accident.

“It’s definitely important to teach kids the importance and how real it is,” said senior Hannah Glaser. “This does happen.”

Glaser played a passenger in the SUV who was severely injured. Both Glaser and senior Gianna Richason, who played the driver of the SUV, decided to volunteer after students with the public safety club reached out to the Science National Honor Society for help in holding the event.

“It’s really important for the kids to be aware,” said high school Principal Kathy Charlton. “We have been lucky, we have not had any serious accidents this year so we just want to keep the kids on their toes and let them know what the possibilities are and to keep them safe.”

Across the country, there were almost 36,100 traffic fatalities in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Of those, about 10,140 are alcohol-related fatalities, while about 3,140 driving fatalities were caused by distracted drivers. In addition, 2.74 million people were injured in motor vehicle accidents in 2019.

The mock accident scenario, which has not been held at the school for about four years, served as a reminder to students as they prepare for their prom, scheduled for Saturday.

“Have your fun, don’t do stuff like this. … We’ve seen this more than you think,” state Trooper Tristan Tappe told students.