Every 15 Minutes

The two-day program, called "Every 15 Minutes", was organized by the San Mateo Police Department, school staff and students.

It began on Tuesday with an SMPD officer visiting nine classrooms with a student disguised as the grim reaper - he picked out a student from each class in intervals of 15 minutes, to represent the fact that every 15 minutes someone in the U.S. dies in a drunk driving related accident.

The students then set themselves up for the grisly scene of the simulated crash on the football field, and the entire school of about 1400 students came to see them.

Five students were involved in the simulated accident. One was thrown out of the windshield and died on the spot. Another received a spinal injury and was rushed to Stanford Hospital - he will be paralyzed from the waste down for the rest of his life. And the student drunk driver walked away only with a head injury, but will spend a number of years behind bars.

"It brings the unfortunate reality that this can happen and people are responsible for their actions. The simulation is important because once this happens, they know they can't go back and change it," said Officer Bill Schroeder from the San Mateo Police Department.

The story of what happened to the students did not end with the crash. A video presented yesterday took viewers through how the parents reacted to the news of the crash, and how doctors responded in the emergency room. Not only was the program shocking, but it was emotionally charged.

"I think today we really touched a lot of people's hearts - even if they haven't been through the situation, we showed them that this could happen to you," said Priya Chand, a junior at San Mateo High who was one of the students who participated in the program.

"I was watching the crowd today and I saw four or five people get up and walk out to the back to see a counselor," said Marcellus Walker, a senior theater student who performed as the grim reaper.

In addition to the video, students in the program read letters they wrote to themselves after they "died." And parents of the "dead" students read letters to their children.

"I agonized about how we could have prevented it. What could we have said more?" said one parent to her child who was in the simulated accident. "I know you knew we loved you, but how much we wish we could tell you one more time."

Jackie Masso, founder of Santa Clara's Mothers Against Drunk Driving and lead organizer of the group for the Bay Area, stood up to give personal testimony about how a drunk driving accident affected her life.

She was involved in a crash with her daughter, husband and a friend that was brought on by a 19-year-old drunk driver with a blood-alcohol level of .29 percent. She said she was lucky that despite extensive injuries, everyone in the crash survived, but she left the students with one strong message:

"Please, when you talk about drunk driving, don't talk about it being an accident. If you drink and drive, you chose to drink and drive. It's a crash, not an accident," Masso said.

Jackie McEvoy, principal of San Mateo High, said she was very pleased with the way the program ended - the impact on students who learn about drunk driving is great.

"The people that are killed in these kinds of accidents, they're not statistics. They are people with families and friends," McEvoy said. "When we can put a face on the victim, we really have the power to personalize the issue for [students]."