MANSFIELD, Ohio – Alyssa Lyon, 17, played dead Tuesday morning during the Mock Crash Docudrama, in a purposeful and extreme effort to get her peers to make good choices on prom night and in life. The Clear Fork High school senior “died” as a result of her boyfriend driving impaired on prom night.
“It was a really weird experience,” Alyssa said of being wrapped in a white sheet, zipped up in a black body bag and carted off by Wappner Funeral Directors in a hearse. “But, like we talked when we first started doing this, if it helps one person it’s worth it.”
The 34th annual Mock Crash Safety Docudrama, presented by the Mock Crash Coalition and the Richland County 4-H Youth Safety Council, involved all area schools in Richland County. Students walked through the entrance of the grandstand at the Richland County Fairgrounds and walked by a mock car crash scene with bloodied teenagers sprawled out through windshields and windows.
Richland county Juvenile Court Magistrate Alicia Schultz opened the program by congratulating the students on their good fortune of being alive.
“Because let’s be honest, most of you have engaged in some of the bad driving behaviors that you are about to see dramatized,” she said. “Drug and alcohol use, not wearing your seat belt, distracted driving, and speeding. These behaviors are always dangerous and every now and then, they’re deadly, but you’re here so you escaped that fate when you engaged in those behaviors.”
Schultz also congratulated the students on escaping an accident while driving with their seatbelt unfastened.
“Even a simple accident can kill you if you’re not wearing your belt,” she reminded them.
Impaired and distracted driving, speeding and not wearing a seat belt are all gambles that are taken by students with the hope that “that everything will turn out ok this time,” Schultz said.
“Granted, the odds are in your favor,” she said. “But, you shouldn’t gamble with what you can’t afford to lose. You’re not gambling with your time or your money, you’re gambling with your life.”
After a semi-truck from Estep Express Trucking moved out of the way of the mock scene, a recorded poem played as students from Clear Fork High School effectively played their parts in the impaired/ drunk driving accident scene.
“Why did I let Tucker convince me to unbuckle my seatbelt and move closer to him?,” said Lyon on the recorded speech. “Why did they mix alcohol, drugs and driving?”
Alexis Wade and Tucker Boggs, who also participated in the crash scene, said they hope students realize that while the mock-crash was fake, the scenario could easily play out in real life.
“We hope they think twice before being stupid behind the wheel,” Alexis said. “Be smart and have fun,” Tucker added.
Richland county Common Pleas Court Judge Brent Robinson gave a closing message to the students before they walked out to a mock-funeral for Alyssa.
“People don’t think something like this can happen to them but it happens every single year here in Richland county,” he said. “If you make good decisions in life, good things will happen. But if you make bad decisions in life, bad consequences will follow.”
Twitter: @angelnichole222
