Mock accident drives effort to teach safe driving values
Dearborn Heights – Sadly, teens and cars are often a deadly combination. The reality is that thousands of families are impacted by a teen's decision to steer and text-message, use a cell phone, fool around at the wheel or drink and operate a car. Nearly 3,500 young drivers (ages15-20) died in 2006, according to the National Transportation Safety Administration.
To hopefully help reduce those numbers, Wayne County will team with Liberty Mutual Insurance to stage a 45-minute, mock car accident scene at noon on May 14 at Hines Park (Warrendale site). The crash will include the stark sights and sounds and the deadly serious consequences to educate teens and drive the message like no classroom possibly could.
The public/private partnership will stage the event for teens attending the all-day National Transportation Week/Wayne County (Transportation) Education Expo at Hines Park (Warrendale site). Detroit is acknowledged nationally as the unofficial host city for the event due to its automotive heritage.
The mock accident will feature student actors in "crashed" cars, police, fire/emergency crews, the Jaws of Life and a Dearborn Heights emergency worker to narrate as events unfold. A Dearborn Heights district judge will also sign a warrant to draw blood from a teen actor charged with drunken driving. The audience will be middle-schoolers and young drivers attending the all-day Expo. Liberty Mutual sponsors mock accidents and advocates other educational tools nationwide to reduce the number of teen fatalities. The insurance firm is providing the vehicles and will have an exhibit at the Expo.
More than 1,200 metro area students will attend the event, along with transportation industry exhibitors and related activities. The Wayne County Education Expo runs from 9 a.m. through 2 p.m. Students from Wayne and Oakland counties will participate.
Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano said the reality approach works best. "If the mock accident saves just one life, it'll be worth every minute" put into the event, he said.
The Warrendale park is located in Dearborn Heights, near the Warren/Outer Drive intersection. Experts, emergency authorities and participants will be available for interviews.
For more information, visit the Web site at National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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