Mock crash creates awareness

By Heather Poston
Staff Writer

Onlookers stare in amazement as a demolished car appears in the Memorial Mall.

Students walking past the Memorial Mall on Tuesday morning witnessed first hand the confusion of a drunken driving accident. The Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils, in honor of National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, simulated a drunken driving accident for passing students to see.

"I was just walking to class, I didn't know what was going on," said Shannon Teders, a sophomore in the School of Liberal Arts.

Four members of the Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils positioned themselves in a wrecked Dodge Daytona at approximately 11 a.m. Complete with fake gashes and blood, the members waited for the Purdue Fire and Police departments to arrive on the scene.

The emergency services sounded their sirens and rushed to the crash, prepared to extract the victims and arrest the drunken driver. The arresting officer for the Purdue Police Department was John Moore.

"We were trying to create an awareness that people do die in drunken driving accidents and the violators are charged with felonies," said Moore.

In a mock exercise, Moore arrested the driver, Adam Krupa, a sophomore in the Schools of Engineering, after giving him various sobriety tests. The Fire Department then removed junior Erin Satterfield, and sophomores Ashley Carney and John Boley, all from the Schools of Engineering.

The students were covered with white sheets and placed on stretchers, and then rushed away from the accident site.

"We wanted students to see the consequences of the choices they make, especially since Homecoming is this week," Carney said.

Carney and Satterfield are both on the Risk Management board that planned this demonstration. Students were surprised and shocked to find that the entire display was a hoax.

"I can't believe it was fake, it looked like a real accident. There was blood everywhere and people were being taken out of the vehicle," said Nicole Grabek, a junior in the School of Liberal Arts.

Other students were appreciative of the demonstration.

"It was a great idea," said Miranda Oneto, a senior in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences. The image of that car and the people in it will stick out in your mind any time you decide to make decisions like drinking and driving."

The Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils will be holding other activities this week in support of Alcohol Awareness Week. They will be handing out red ribbons to the houses on campus as well as holding an informational fair on Thursday.

The informational fair will begin at 11 a.m. at the Memorial Mall. There will be many activities, including sobriety tests and goggles that simulate being drunk. There will also be representatives from the Purdue Fire and Police departments to answer questions students may have.

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Campus editor: Laura Pelner

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