Valencia high school students are set to participate and learn from the emotionally impactful “Every 15 Minutes” on Tuesday.
Valencia High students, in partnership with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and the city of Santa Clarita, are participating in the program that exposes local teens to a variety of events, including a simulated fatal crash.
The “Every 15 Minutes” program is a two-day event designed to dramatically instill teenagers with the consequences associated with drinking alcohol, reckless driving and life choices. The program challenges students to think about personal safety and the responsibility of making mature decisions — particularly those related to reckless driving, speed contests, drinking alcohol, using drugs and driving and distracted driving.
The program will simulate a tragic event and host guest speakers over the span of two days, where the consequences of drinking alcohol, reckless driving and life choices will be the lessons of the day. Several students will be removed from class in order to participate in a driving under the influence simulated collision scene along with court proceedings that will instill the realness of the simulation. Several other “injured” students will be treated at the scene by the Los Angeles County Fire Department and taken to a local hospital. The “drunk driver” will be arrested, and taken to the Santa Clarita Superior Court, where a simulated conviction for manslaughter will occur.
The two-day event provides an emotionally packed day for students as some see their best friends chosen for the simulation and see them “lost” during the simulation, driving home the reality that it could happen to anyone.
“There is no statistics about the program but, we believe it has a significant impact,” said Deputy Hartman of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
There will also be visits by participants to several locations, including the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Grove at Central Park and the Eternal Valley Mortuary. Many guest speakers will also make appearances over the next two days who have experienced real-life drunk driving related tragedies and how it impacted them. An assembly will be held on Wednesday at Valencia High School for both junior and senior classes, where local guest speakers who have had family members killed in traffic collisions will also address the students.
Funding for the program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the California Highway Patrol and the City of Santa Clarita.
Dickason Drive will be closed between Decoro Drive and Smyth Drive between the hours of 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Please be advised of possible traffic delays.
For additional information about the Every 15 Minutes program, please contact Deputy Hartman at 661-255-1121 or e-mail [email protected].
