Schools

'Every 15 minutes': staged DUI crash kills 2, injures 3 Healdsburg teens

Staged Monte Vista Avenue "fatal" accident Wednesday shows dangers of drinking and driving, part of "Every 15 Minutes" program.

A staged "fatal" DUI crash Wednesday morning on Monte Vista Avenue was a lesson for all Healdsburg High teens who watched.

"I'm a peer coach, so we do all this stuff anyway -- helping people get through tragedies and emergencies," said Delaney Arnold, a HHS junior who was part of the "Living Dead" team who dressed in black as ghosts at the crash scene.

"We represent the teens who have died in drunk driving accidents, which is what the 'Every 15 Minutes' program is about," Delaney said. "Every 15 minutes, a teenager dies in a drugs- or alcohol-related car accident."

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"Every 15 Minutes" is a national program dedicated to raising awareness about teen driving and drinking, said Principal Chris Vanden Heuvel.

"All students at HHS witnessed a mock crash scene staged on Monte Vista Avenue," Vanden Heuvel added in explaining Wednesday's events.  "Emergency response personnel from various city, county and state agencies were onsite as well."

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Participating were crews from of -- among others.

Healdsburg Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Harding said the first responders donated their staff time and equipment -- including a CHP helicopter that rushed "injured" HHS senior Carson Seanor to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital -- because they believe it will help save lives.

Over the next 24 hours, students who were victims in the crash -- and their parents -- will actually follow through at the hospital, the coroner's office and the courts, Vanden Heuvel said.

HHS senior Savannah Berry, driver of one of the two cars that crashed, was "charged" with felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter. She was scheduled to be arraigned later Wednesday in Sonoma County Superior Court.

Pronounced "dead" at the scene was Hank Smith, a passenger -- with brother Will Smith -- in a car driven by Sean Coey. Coey was seriously injured; he was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he later "died."

Berry and Will Smith suffered minor injuries; Seanor possibly suffered full paralysis from his injuries.

"When you get behind the wheel and you've been drinking, things like this can happen," Vanden Heuvel told the student body after reading a mock CHP "press release" about the fatal accident. "Hopefully you'll remember this and be able to make better decisions for yourself."

 On Thursday, May 19, at 9:30 a.m. in Smith Robinson Gym, HHS students will attend a mock memorial service, he added.

"This is  a vital part of the "Every 15 Minutes" program," Vanden Heuvel said.

 All parents are welcome to attend the mock memorial service.

 For more information on the program, go to www.every15minutes.com.  For further questions,  contact HHS Principal Chris Vanden Heuvel at 707-431-3420.


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