Norwalk High School students simulate drunk driving accident

Aiden Rivera, a 16 year-old junior at Norwalk High School, reunites with his parents after participating in the “Every 15 Minutes program.” (Photo by Alex Dominguez)

NORWALK - Sammy Padilla, a 17-year-old senior, walks across the stage in the Norwalk High School auditorium. With tears in her eyes, she tells her younger sister, Jasmine, that she is “the light of her life.” She thanks her father, Raymundo, for all his love and support throughout her life.

Her speech concludes. She walks down the stairs and onto the gym floor.

She returns to her seat, walking past her casket.

Norwalk High School participated in “Every 15 Minutes” last week, a program to spread awareness on the dangers and potential consequences of impaired driving

During the two-day event aimed at the junior and senior classes, nine students were selected to participate in a simulation of an alcohol-related crash, including multiple casualties.

Prior to the “crash,” they would be taken out of school by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and a grim reaper, with their obituary read to their class.

At the scene, the students – referred to as “the living dead” – could be seen either bloodied and strewn across the wreckage, or standing amongst the chaos in ghostly make-up. Real first-responders from local agencies would arrive at the site, using the jaws of life and other equipment to extract the injured and perform life-saving procedures.

“The design of the program is to be impactful; it’s to bring a level of connection to our students and raise awareness to their decision making and the consequences of impaired driving, whether it be alcohol or drugs,” said Officer Zachary Salazar, Public Information Officer for CHP Santa Fe Springs.

Ultimately, a student would be taken away via ambulance, another declared dead on scene, and one arrested and charged for driving under the influence of alcohol, and vehicular manslaughter.

The living dead spent two days separated from their friends and families, stripped of their cellphones and all contact outside of the other participants. They were held in a hotel, where they participated in team-building activities, and deeper discussions on the subject matter.

An emotional Sammy Padilla reads her goodbye letter in front of students, staff, and family. (Photo by Alex Dominguez)

Padilla said that she had previously seen the program, but it wasn’t until she took part that the message took hold.

“Before this, looking at some of the assemblies as a watcher in the audience, it was hard to take seriously,” said Padilla. “Being able to first-hand experience everything, it changes my perspective a lot. It gave me the opportunity to see what it would be like without me there, without my family, without my friends, and also gave me the opportunity to kind of observe them and how me not being there affected them as well.”

Victor Cruz, an 18-year-old senior – played the role of the impaired driver, and was the only student taken to the sheriff’s department for processing and booking.

“It’s a reality check; it really makes you second-guess where you want to go out with your friends, how you want to do it,” said Cruz. “There was something over the program I heard, it was ‘I’d rather have that one minute without my friends than a minute without my life.’”

“It reality checked me because you could be up to 20 [years] to maybe life for injuring someone, just because of your decision, instead of calling someone.”

The program was a tough pill to swallow for parents as well.

In a video production that was presented to students and parents, Liliana Rivero watched as her son Aiden – thrown through a windshield and draped over the hood of a car in the mock crash – was covered with a sheet.

“In the back of my head, I’m telling myself this is a simulation, but seeing it it’s very real,” said Rivero. “You hope you’re doing a well-enough job as a parent to teach them right from wrong.

“He was a passenger in this accident, and I tell him, I told him now, ‘If you ever find yourself where you’re riding with somebody and you see you’re uncomfortable because they’re drinking or they’re drugged, or impaired any other way, call us.’ There’s no reason to get in a car with anybody at this point; no questions asked, whenever he needs us.”

She added “it was hard not having him around,” especially when his 6-year-old younger brother began to notice the absence.

“We’re so used to listening to him, hear him talking to his friends on the phone, over their video games, playing with his younger brothers. The house was definitely quiet yesterday, and it’s an odd feeling,” said Rivero. “The little one is asking for him, we can’t really tell the reality of it, what it was.”

Christina Moreau, Assistant Principal at Norwalk High, emphasized the value in the program.

“I think that if we, as a collective ‘we’ as a group, if we helped a student or we helped one of our students to make a decision before getting behind the wheel or getting in the car with someone who has been drinking, then this has been worth it,” said Moreau.