WEB EXCLUSIVE

The mock DUI consisted of very damaged cars, which looked as though they had really crashed, and high school drama students who played dead for a eerie amount of time, elements which helped tie the story together and portray the realistic, depressing events of a DUI accident. On Feb. 24, the juniors and seniors at Oviedo and Hagerty High Schools were field tripped for a portion of the day to experience an event that was strongly supported by local police, fire crew and the school board. Local public serviceman and a few Hagerty thespians set up a live action performance, which revealed the truths of accidents that happen when distracted drivers get behind the wheel.

“I think it’s critical to raise awareness of students that are in high school about the dangers that exist when you’re under the influence,” said principal Joe Trybus.

Driving under the influence is a criminal action in which someone operates a motor vehicle while intoxicated by recreational/prescribed drugs or alcohol that alters cognition ability. Drugs and alcohol slow cognition ability, inhibit quick reactions to danger and restrain the alert brain activity necessary to safely operate a car. The show was aided by fire and police women and men who presented the actual events of real emergency.

Trybus has personal experiences with the horrifying truth of intoxication.

“I was involved in a crash myself when I was nineteen years old,” Trybus said. “I had started my freshman year of college and we were actually hit by a drunk driver. There were four kids in the automobile. I was actually ejected [from the car], landed on my head and cracked my skull. I have a big scar right here; if I shaved my head you could see it. I almost lost my life, it was that bad.”

Driving with the inability to make safe decisions causes the action to be extremely dangerous for not just the driver and passengers, but for people in other cars as well. In 2015, 10,265 people died in drunk driving accidents alone. That’s about one person every 50 minutes.

The effects of driving while intoxicated are often underestimated by teenagers and addicts, but the result of the danger is very real and horrifying. The understanding of the reality of the consequences of driving under the influence was the intent of the mock program.

The life-threatening experience Trybus had completely changed his outlook on the power of intoxication, and the safety precautions people should take to avoid such tragedies.

“[When] you’re not cognitively aware of everything, a lot of bad things can happen,” Trybus said.