Controlled Chaos

Mock crash held at Grandview High School to prepare students for prom weekend

By Mary Wilson

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every day, 29 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The Grandview police and fire departments don’t want Grandview High School students to become part of that one death every 50 minutes statistic.

On the morning of Friday, April 26, before juniors and seniors headed to their prom on Saturday night, a mock crash was held in the parking lot of the high school. Retired Grandview firefighter Terry Magelssen served as the crash narrator. The dramatization is an effort to ensure that students put safety at the forefront of their minds when attending celebrations.

The crash staging included a head-on collision with multiple passengers with differing severity of injuries. Throughout the dramatization, Magelssen provided students with tips on what to do if they are in an accident, and how to avoid something of that magnitude altogether.

“The statistics tell us that everyone here, at least once in your lifetime, will be involved in something like this,” said Magelssen. “That’s a scary thought. It could be tomorrow, or it could be 50 years from now. At least once, you’ll experience something like what you are seeing today.”

A car crash happens almost every 30 seconds in this country, according to Magelssen. In Grandview, crashes happen two or three times each week.

“Keep this in the back of your mind: when you are driving a vehicle, what you are actually doing is controlling a 5,000 pound weapon,” said Magelssen. “You are essentially seated inside of a missile. When these two cars collided, they expended enough energy that would be the equivalent of three or four sticks of dynamite.”

He added that there are three crashes that occur with each vehicle accident. The first is when the cars hit each other. The second is when the bodies, restrained by seatbelts and airbags (or maybe not) hit the inside of the car. The third collision is the one that kills passengers.

“I want you to be serious when you get behind the wheel of that 5,000 pound weapon,” said Magelssen. “Not only could you injure yourself, but you can injure innocent bystanders or everybody in your car. While today we’re focusing on prom season and the distractions that cell phones can create, or the craziness that happens in your brain from alcohol and drugs, know that this happens from a bee flying in the car, a flat tire, or an old man who’s having a stroke or a heart attack. What you can do for us is take away that part that deals with cell phones and other distractions.”

Magelssen said that the first responders have a job in Grandview to make certain that no students end up in crashes like the one shown on Friday. The crash demonstrated what happens when a vehicle collision occurs, acted out by peers from the Grandview High School drama department.