Students in Montesano and Elma last month got a crash-course on the dangers of distracted and inebriated driving.

The high schools of Montesano and Elma over the past few weeks have both participated in the Every 32 Minutes program. The program seeks to minimize teen fatalities and distracted driving through dramatic simulations depicting what a car accident would look like and what type of fallout it might bring to the community.

“I thought it went extremely well, it was well executed and had an indelible impact on the students,” Montesano Fire Chief Corey Rux said.

Students who were mock victims in staged accidents were taken out of class by emergency responders throughout the day, leaving their classmates with an impression of what it would be like if that individual was lost to distracted or inebriated driving. At Elma a black cloth and a rose were placed on the missing student’s desk.

Students at both schools were excused in the early afternoon to go outside and witness a mock crash put together by the police and fire departments and EMT responders.

“During the mock car accident you can really hear a pin drop. It’s a tremendous display of the consequences of people putting themselves in those situations,” Rux said. “Getting to see that firsthand, even though it is a mock crash, it drives home the point that there are real consequences.”

The Every 32 Minutes program began to yield immediate results in the desired age group of 16- to 24-year-olds when it began nine years ago, said Susan Bradbury, manager of Target Zero. Target Zero is a Washington State strategic highway safety plan with the goal of reducing annual traffic deaths in Washington to zero by 2030.

“As we’ve watched over the last five-year period there’s been a 65 percent decrease (measuring between prom and graduation) for three to six months after the event,” she said.

Prom and graduation can be exciting times for students, and with that excitement may come the potential to become distracted while driving in one way or another.

“We don’t want to lose any students. We want every student to enjoy prom and graduation with no risk to their safety,” Bradbury said. “This is a community that clearly cares very much about the students’ safety and we want to continue to educate and tell students that it does happen and could happen to them.”

(Travis Rains | The Vidette) Montesano first responders give senior Ben Lopez a mock field sobriety test at Montesano’s Every 32 Minutes April 12.

(Travis Rains | The Vidette) Elma first responders put out a vehicle fire during the mock crash for Elma High School’s Every 32 Minutes April 26.

(Travis Rains | The Vidette) Elma first responders, including police chief Susan Shultz, work to get a student out of a vehicle involved in the mock crash at Elma High School’s Every 32 Minutes April 26.