A grim lesson: Program shows teens the perils of driving under the influence

By Emily Richmond

Friday, Oct. 4, 2002 | 11:07 a.m.

When the Grim Reaper came for Carli Webster, the Coronado High School student body president wasn't ready. Her new black gown for the homecoming dance next weekend waited in her closet at home. She had homework to do, friends and family to spend time with and college applications to prepare.

But the tall man dressed in a black-hooded cloak, carrying a large scythe, didn't care.

"Your time has come," he told Webster, as he pulled her from her third-period government class.

The Grim Reaper's visit Thursday was part of a dramatic demonstration of the perils of driving under the influence, a national program known as Every 15 Minutes. The title refers to the statistic that every 15 minutes someone in the United States is killed in an alcohol or drug-related wreck.

In the school hallway, Webster's face was painted white with dark shadows and a coroner's identification tag placed around her neck. She was joined by about two dozen other students claimed at 15-minute intervals throughout the day.

While the students volunteered to participate, they were not told when they would be taken. The uncertainty left Webster with a pounding heart every time a classroom door opened.

"It was terrifying," Webster said. "As a teenager you don't think your time is going to come anytime soon. Some people think they're here forever, and it's just not true."

The two-day event includes a simulated car wreck outside the school, complete with actual paramedics and rescue response. Obituaries, written by the parents, are posted and the dead are taken off campus for an overnight retreat. The students and families will discuss their experiences at an assembly today.

Clark County School District officials decided in May to no longer allow students to leave campus during the day following the deaths of two Las Vegas High School students in a lunchtime wreck. Natasha Keeter, 17, and the driver, Ashely Troester, were killed and three other girls seriously hurt.

On Aug. 30, Centennial High School student Ryan Sneed died when he pulled his red Jeep in front of a tractor trailer. Sneed was taking a popular shortcut used by students to avoid traffic on the main thoroughfares, officials said. The four passengers in the Jeep were all injured, three critically.

While alcohol or drugs have not been cited as factors in either crash, both incidents involved young, inexperienced drivers. Troester, 16, did not have a license and was speeding to make it back to school before the end of the lunch period, police said. And according to authorities, Sneed had his driver's license just nine days before the collision.

The message of "Every 15 minutes" isn't just about drinking and drugs, but about being more aware behind the wheel under various circumstances, said Coronado Principal Monte Bay.

"Kids think they're invincible," Bay said. "It's tough for adults to convince them otherwise. That's why we hope this program is a wake-up call."

Bay said he requested that the event be scheduled before the school's homecoming activities, which start next week.

"We know there are kids who drink, no matter what we tell them," Bay said. "Maybe seeing a wreck like this will show them their actions have consequences, not just for them, but for their parents, their friends, all of us."

Mid-morning, the schools juniors and seniors assembled outside the Henderson campus where a collision scene had been recreated. The sound of automobiles squealing and glass shattering boomed out from stereo speakers. A white Trans Am hatchback and a red Acura sedan were smashed together, with students playing the roles of the victims.

As a woman's desperate 911 call played -- with her begging police to hurry to Coronado High School -- ambulances and fire trucks pulled up, lights flashing.

On the hood of the red car, facedown, was the front-seat passenger. Rescue workers quickly determined the victim, played by Coronado senior Timothy Favella, was dead. He was ejected threw the windshield because he wasn't wearing a seat belt, police said.

The driver, senior Jonathan Maimes, was slumped behind the wheel of the red sedan, his head and arm hanging out the shattered side window. Makeup and latex were used to give him the appearance of horrific head injuries. Paramedics loaded him into a Mercy Air helicopter, which landed on the closed street in front of the campus. Shortly after, an announcement was made that he had succumbed to his injuries at University Medical Center.

As paramedics worked to extricate a less-injured third student from the back seat of the crushed sedan, police interviewed the driver of the white Trans Am, who was unharmed. She was placed in handcuffs and arrested after stumbling through the field sobriety test. Two six-packs of beer were taken from the front seat. Two cans were spilled on the ground amidst the shards of window glass and crumpled car panels.

Favella's parents watched the scene from the bleachers with the students, having been given the choice of being notified by authorities about the "death" at their home or at school. His mother said she was grateful she had previewed her son's graphic appearance beforehand in the school's gymnasium.

"It really feels like I've lost my son," Favalla said, wiping tears from her cheeks. "I wasn't prepared for this to be so real."

Most of the student audience grew quiet as Favella was zipped into a blue body bag, and some appeared shaken.

"The way the students respond to this, that's what always gets me," said crisis manager Marian Thomas of the Trauma Intervention Program, which has participated in five of the demonstrations at various Clark County high schools. "They always start off laughing and joking, glad to be out of class. But by the end it's a whole other world."

After the body bag was loaded into a white hearse, his obituary was read aloud. He was remembered for his ready wit and the fact that he never missed a play rehearsal. Maimes' obituary was also read, describing the young man as Coronado's prom king, Boy Scout and devoted son and brother.

"I was glad a lot of the students seemed to be taking this seriously," said father John Favella. "If just one of them got the message today, then watching what my son went through was worth it."

For senior Crystal Basenback, the message was frighteningly clear.

"I'll never drive on drugs, or get in a car with someone who's drunk or high," Basenback said. "Everyone should have to see a crash like this."