Pre-Prom Crash Scene a Wake-up Call for Teens

Romeoville police and firefighters were there at 6 a.m. to set the scene: A tragic accident that claimed that lives of two teens, injured several of their friends and landed another in jail.

While the pre-prom demonstration was make-believe, the scenario plays out all too often in real life.

“The whole point of this is to save lives,”  Romeoville High School’s school resource officer Det. Kelley Henson told teens who gathered early Friday to play the roles of the driver, victims and shocked bystanders.

The crash was staged near the Taylor Road entrance to RHS, giving students an eyeful as they arrived at school. Many of the teens who took part are members of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD, formerly known as Students Against Driving Drunk).

Wearing glitzy satin evening gowns, seniors Kristina Fernandez and Catie Crnokovich portrayed two prom-goers who did not survive the drunken-driving crash.

“It was a weird experience,” said Fernandez, who had to lie motionless next to an overturned car while emergency responders tended to the victims trapped in two more crumpled vehicles. The event also was a training exercise for firefighters, who used the Jaws of Life to get to the “injured” teens.

Even though it was only pretend, Fernandez said the crash scene — and the idea of teens never making it home to their loved ones — hit home.

“I actually got kind of emotional,” she said.

“Seeing the smashed cars was really freaky,” Crnkovich agreed. “It was scary.”

Jimmie Dixon, who played a victim who had to be extricated, said it was interesting to get to see first responders at work, but admitted it was a bit frightening.

“When they pulled the glass [windshield] out, that was a little scary,” he said.

As firefighters worked to save the victims who still had a chance, senior Brad Smidt staggered his way through a field sobriety test before being handcuffed and led to a waiting squad car.

As the driver who caused the fatal crash, Smidt would bear the brunt of the tragedy.

“It wasn’t something I want to go through for real, that’s for sure,” Smidt said.

The mock-crash was the last in a aimed at making teens aware of the dangers of drunken and reckless driving as they headed into prom weekend.

A day earlier, officers from Romeoville’s traffic unit taught driver’s education classes, sharing real-life crash stories as a wake-up call to students.

“They tell the stories; they talk about the crash dynamics and what happens to your body [in an accident],” Henson said. “It gets the kids’ attention.”

So did Friday morning’s staged crash.

“It was a good experience,” Fernandez said. “It was eye opening.”