Safety lessons sweetened with dollop of fun

Students at Mountain Empire High School were treated to a driver safety demonstration on the school sports fields last Friday, Dec. 9, when San Diego County deputies and officers of California Highway Patrol gave them a reality check on the consequences of car crashes. The event was organized largely by Dep. Keith Nye, and was the third of its kind at the high school. The demo began with loud blaring music and a monster truck and dune buggy that sped around the track to fly off a dirt jump built for the occasion. Then, out came the CHP off-road vehicles to pull the dune buggy over and arrest the passenger. MEHS Principal Jan Hagan, was dragged out by CHP officers Piscatelli and Conklin, and handcuffed in a mock arrest. Hagan played along, hamming it up for the crowd of students. The emcee for the event was Dep. Matt McLendon. A bit grimmer was the demonstration of a roll over crash, using a roll over machine, complete with crash dummies inside, that was controlled by two CHP volunteer patrol members.

     The reality check portion of the event arrived with Jenn Sietel (at right with a representative from Sharp Medical), a 27-year-old car crash survivor, told her story to the students. When she was 16, Jenn and her family were in a car crash. Jenn’s younger sister was killed in the crash and Jenn was left partially paralyzed. Neither was wearing seatbelts at the time. Jenn, who is able to walk with the help of two crutches, laid the reality out in black and white. “Please don’t think you are invincible. Please don’t think every single choice doesn’t count, and don’t think that it will never happen to you,” she said. “It’s not a car accident...so many times, if you think about it, there were choices that led you there.” The deputies may have been having as much fun as the students as they shot DARE T-shirts out of a bazooka, which was built by Nye, into the crowd. Pictured here are Don Robbins, Mike Radovich, Glen Revell and Jim Cook.

Photos by Christy Scott/The Alpine Sun