Watch the lead up to the "fatal crash" and the entire event with Beaumont High School actors on Youtube.
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Drivers near Beaumont and Brookside Avenue witnessed a flurry of sirens and flashing lights as they responded to a grisly “car crash” in the late morning hours of Wednesday, April 10. Thankfully, the “victims” were all part of a simulated car crash worthy of a Hollywood production.
The California Highway Patrol and the Office of Traffic Safety in partnership with Beaumont High School depicted a mock car crash for an event called Every 15 Minutes. A high school senior played the role of the intoxicated driver, while his peers played the victims. The event seeks to educate students about the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana.
The senior class was given front-row seats alongside Brookside Avenue. To accommodate the large class sizes, underclass students were able to watch the action unfold in the gymnasium thanks to a professional film crew who livestreamed the event.
“I told you guys we shouldn’t drive, but you wouldn’t listen to me,” a bloodied and disoriented student screamed out from the backseat of a severely wrecked pickup truck. Another passenger laid motionless, halfway out of the broken windshield. A Beaumont Police Officer arrived on the scene with flashing lights. After seeing the injured students, he radioed for paramedics before placing the “driver” under arrest for driving under the influence.
The dramatic storytelling reached its climax when students in the bleachers looked to the sky to the whooshing sound of a helicopter. It was air rescue arriving to transport one of the severely “injured” students.
“What you saw today is just the start of the story,” explained Drew Scherrer, the Beaumont High School Principal. “We have an actual casket and urn that will be delivered for a mock funeral tomorrow.” A select number of students who participated in the mock crash will leave for an overnight stay at the Apple Canyon Center in Mountain Center, California. They will have no access to their phones or wi-fi––entirely cutting their contact off from their families and friends. The intent is to further dramatize the reality of losing a friend and child to a fatal car accident. Becky Barbee, a mother of one of the student actors said, “If it helps even one kid make a better choice, it will have been worth it.”