Miami DUILive DUI Car Crash Drama Sends Message to Teenagers 05/18/01 Live DUI Car Crash Drama Sends Message to Teenagers Miami Beach - Miami Beach Senior High School's outdoor playing field will be the emotional and dramatic scene of a DUI-related car crash involving teenagers and fatalities on Thursday, May 24 at 10:00 a.m. The simulation will be complete with screaming police squad cars, fire rescue, "jaws of life" equipment, medical examiner, tears, disappointments and arrests. Don't drink and drive. That is the message that City of Miami Beach Fire Department is sending to Miami Beach High School students, especially before prom and graduation. Thousands of teenagers have died due to car crashes because somebody chose to drive under the influence of alcohol and or drugs. Over the last three years, close to 5,000 under age DUI crashes were reported in Florida, of those, 187 involved fatalities, 412 cases were in Miami-Dade County of which 11 involved fatalities and three cases involved Miami Beach High School students. For the last two years, Miami Beach High School has seen all of its seniors at graduation, thanks in part to the Cheat the Reaper program. Miami Beach Fire Rescue, the Police Department, and Miami Beach High School students will be participating in the fourth annual "Cheat the Reaper -- Live to See Your Future," a teen anti-DUI presentation which includes a simulated prom scene and car crash. The dramatized Drinking Under the Influence (DUI) - caused car crash, with all of the blood, sirens, and emergency personnel of a real-life DUI accident, will demonstrate the dangers of teens impaired by drugs or alcohol. This mock car crash will be shown to approximately 500 senior students live at theschool's playing field, days before their senior prom. By educating the students to make the correct choice and the results of the wrong choices, theCity's fire officials are attempting to reduce the number of teenagers injured -- or killed -- in DUI-caused crashes. "There is a saying - 'Good judgement comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgement.' The goal is to substitute an educational experience in place of an actual experience, so students can use it as their reference for good judgement when peer pressure forces them to make difficult choices," said Miami Beach Public Fire and Life Safety Educator David Mogen. Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for every age from five through 27 years old. Almost half of these crashes are alcohol-related. In 1997, 6,258 people, ages 15-20, were killed in traffic crashes and 2,209 of these deaths - more than 35 percent - involved alcohol. Young people are over-represented in alcohol-related fatal crashes. The alcohol involvement fatal crash rate for young drivers is about twice that of drivers over 21. In 1998, statistics reveal that 16,189 people were killed in crashes involving alcohol in the United States -- an average of one every 32 minutes. These deaths constituted approximately 38.6 percent of the total 41,967 traffic fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Cheat the Reaper" uses Interact Club students and Students Against Drinking and Driving (SADD) members for the dramatization as victims and witnesses. Emergency services and officials involved in the mock crash are moulage, incident commander, triage officer, transportation officer, medical examiner, law enforcement officers, media, ambulance personnel, fire suppression, safety officer, extrication officer, and public information officer. During the simulated car crash, there will be vehicle extrication and victim stabilization. The Miami Beach Fire and Police Department thank the following community partners: Mount Sinai Hospital, Miami-Dade County MedicalExaminer's Office, Tremont/Beach Towing, Vista Convention Services South, Riverside-Gordon Memorial Chapels Funeral Services, Miami-Dade County Parks & Recreation Department and Miami Beach Senior High School. The event is sponsored by Mount Sinai Hospital. Miami Beach Senior High School is located at 2231 Prairie Avenue, Miami Beach. This program is part of the City of Miami Beach Fire Department's Preventive Education Program. For more information, contact Inspector David Mogen at 305-673-7123.
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DUI / DWI, Drinking 
