‘Every 15 Minutes’ project stages the real-life drama of drunk driving

To impart to teens the perils of drinking and driving, La Cañada High School last week hosted “Every 15 Minutes,” a two-day reenactment event that began Thursday morning with a staged fatal car accident and ended Friday with tears of gratitude.

On Thursday morning, 14 participating students were taken from their classes in 15-minute intervals by the “Grim Reaper,” while eight more were prepped for the collision. After the staged accident, the “walking dead” and their parents were taken through every step of its aftermath — from the coroner’s office to the courtroom to a lonely jail cell.

Day two involved a funeral assembly, in which the victims were honored and mourned and speakers shared their own real-life experiences with drunk driving.

PHOTOS: Project shows the impacts of drunk-driving

It’s a hard thing to watch, and perhaps harder for the agencies involved (fire, sheriff’s, CHP and coroner’s staff join an L.A. County court judge and attorneys to play roles in the reenactment), but it’s the most effective way for school administrators to reach teens with a message that matters, said LCHS Principal Ian McFeat.

“The whole point of this event is to raise awareness about how important and precious life is, and that they need to think about their actions,” McFeat said. “If it changes three or four, or even one student, then it’s a success.”

The $16,500 program was paid for by a $10,000 grant from the California Highway Patrol, along with contributions from the city of La Cañada Flintridge, the Kiwanis Club of La Cañada and the La Cañada Spartan Boosters Club, according to organizers.

La Cañada High hosts the event biennially, so some upperclassmen have participated in the program more than once, organizers say, but the images and emotions involved still tend to find their targets.

That was the case for senior Christina Hacobian, who had to watch the accident scene unfold as her sister Caroline lay strewn among the wreckage.

“I almost started crying because it looked so real,” Christina Hacobian said. “It made me scared because if she died, what would I do?”

She and fellow senior Scott Platisa acknowledged that drinking and driving is a serious issue for LCHS upperclassman, and that the message of prevention will be especially relevant as prom and grad night celebrations approach.

“This really affects us all. I think it helps everybody,” Platisa said. “I know after this I’ll, of course, be wiser in my decision making.”

Friday’s all-student assembly was designed to re-create a funeral. A handful of participating students read letters they’d written to their parents “from beyond.”

“I was supposed to fall in love one day and have my dad walk me down the aisle,” said accident victim Roxanne Sevigny. “I’m so sorry for taking this all for granted.”

Two speakers with true stories to tell added an element of realism that resonated with the audience. LCHS science teacher Tom Traeger recalled how his older sister, Judy, was under the influence of alcohol and drugs in 2009 when she accidentally hit another car head on, killing a mother of five and critically injuring the victim’s daughter.

Today, Judy is serving part of a 13-year sentence, Traeger told the audience.

“They lost everything as a result of what my sister did, her bad decisions in life,” he said. “If you do drink and drive, realize that the cost is heavy.”

Guest speaker Josh Jahn, a former Illinois volunteer firefighter, spoke about the day in 2008 when he heard of a gruesome accident on his scanner and arrived on scene to discover his wife Mandy, 3-year-old son Ryan and daughter Kaitlyn, 11 months, were its victims. Their car had been hit by a three-time DUI offender, who flew through a stop sign at 68 mph.

The driver had a blood-alcohol level of .18 — more than two times the legal limit.

“I know not every single person in here is going to take this to heart the way they should. But if just a handful of people do, then it’s worth it,” Jahn said. “The lady who hit my family, if she’d sat in a room like this when she was younger, (maybe) my family would still be here.”

Afterward, tearful students and parents embraced one another. Parents Jerick and Hilda Hacobian consoled their twin daughters, the one who’d “died” during the reenactment and the one who’d watched her.

Her eyes still heavy with tears, Hilda Hacobian said the whole experience was worthwhile.

“Thank goodness we have the opportunity to say this is not real,” she said, adding how difficult it can be sometimes to reach teens.

“You almost have to bring them to the edge for them to get it,” she added.