It was a grisly scene outside Elphinstone Secondary School on March 27 as drama students re-enacted the aftermath of a two-vehicle crash caused by a texting teen who took his eyes off the road just long enough to drift into the oncoming traffic lane.
The head-on collision sent one teen girl through the windshield of her vehicle where she lay bleeding and lifeless on the hood. Her three passengers ended up seriously injured and trapped inside the crumpled car, which needed to be opened by firefighters with the Jaws of Life.
The time it took to free them was too long for one teen boy, who succumbed to his injuries despite the efforts of paramedics.
The texting driver was perhaps the least injured as evidenced through the fight he gave police while being put in handcuffs. His two passengers were able to walk away from the crash, but were also injured and visibly distraught.
It’s a typical scene that plays out on B.C. roadways every month, but seeing the horror and devastation first-hand was hoped to encourage teens to think twice before talking on the phone or texting while driving.
“No call or text is so important it’s worth risking your life,” said ICBC road safety coordinator Harvey Kooner, who was on site for the mock accident and a following ICBC-sponsored talk for students.
An average of 88 people are killed each year in B.C. due to distracted driving, which is why ICBC dedicated the month of March to educating people about the problem.
In addition to the dramatic display at Elphi, volunteers throughout B.C. manned “cell watch” stations on select roadsides reminding drivers to leave their phones alone, and ICBC focused all of its advertising on education about distracted driving.
“Distracted driving is a significant concern for B.C. road safety — and one to be considered as seriously as impaired driving or excessive speeding,” said Suzanne Anton, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, in a press release. “Last year, government added three penalty points to the $167 fine for talking on an electronic device, and as we monitor the impact of this action, may consider further sanctions to combat this dangerous driving behaviour.”
While fines are helpful, experiential learning is often more compelling, and that’s what the mock crash at Elphi was for — to give students a tangible example of why they should leave their phones alone when behind the wheel.
“We wanted it to be something that would impact them,” said organizing teacher Kate Kerr, who worked with students and volunteers from ICBC, Sunshine Coast RCMP, Gibsons fire department, BC Ambulance Service and the local coroner’s office to organize the accident scene.
Dozens of volunteers did their utmost to make the mock accident look and feel as real as possible, and while the crowd of students first gathered with chatter and laughter they soon quieted at the seriousness of the scene.
Once the dramatic display was over students moved inside the school for an ICBC-sponsored talk by long-time paramedic Ted Swan. There the students saw more images of real crashes, complete with covered body parts, that were the result of distracted driving collisions.
The images, the dramatic display and Swan’s talk helped bring the message home for students — leave the phone alone. No text or phone call is worth your life.
