DUI Reenactment Message Gone Wrong

The local college’s Arts Program’s acting class was recreating an accident scene that had claimed the lives of four teenagers. The purpose of this graphic scenario was to motivate students to not drink and drive and since my own children were coming into the age of freedom (i.e., getting their own drivers licenses), I thought it was a worthwhile event for them to attend.

We joined a crowd of college kids while the actors got into position – one was laying across the hood of a totaled car the college had delivered to the campus for this event, another actor crawled carefully half way through one of the side windows, one was sitting by the car sobbing, and one was totally covered up with a white sheet on the ground in front of the car. And of course, there was red paint splattered everywhere on the vehicle and on everyone reenacting this scene.

The message was somber. As one student narrated the events from the original fatal crash, the ambulance’s siren wailed up to the college (in full participation of this event). The paramedics assessed the ‘victims’; two worked on the ‘survivor’; then they wheeled out a gurney to start loading up the ‘deceased’.

The problem was, the scene was taking place on the hillside of the college and the paramedics didn’t lock the wheels, so the gurney got away from them and ran over the head of the victim-actor who was lying on the ground, covered by the sheet.

I tried not to laugh, really, I did.

The body under the sheet suddenly resurrected itself and sat up in pain amid much laughter by everyone present and to the embarrassment of the paramedics.

Well, the message was a good one, but it lost a lot of steam when it turned into a comedy to everyone present, including the actors still trying to stay in their roles, but shaking with silent laughter.