Fatal DUI simulation an eye opener for students

May 4, 2016

Photos by Mike Weland Story by Michael Meier Boundary County Public Information This morning Boundary County law enforcement and schools presented a graphic crash simulation to the students of Bonners Ferry High Schools, and the entire program had been cloaked in secrecy so as to not alert students, rendering it even more realistic. The simulation included two crashed vehicles, four students injured, one killed students, an arrest for driving under the influence and a visit by the Boundary County Coroner. The simulation was played out by students who have been sworn to secrecy about the event. The role players had been locked up prior to the event without cell phones and roomed at the Kootenai River Inn, with supervisors in both the men's and lady's rooms for security. The simulation featured two really destroyed vehicles, showing what driving under the influence and distracted driving can lead to. The entire simulation was very real, with makeup for all the role players. Law enforcement from the Idaho State Police, Boundary County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Bonners Ferry responded as if this were an actual crash event. It was so realistic, students watched, hushed, some with tears in their eyes. Story continues below City fire, ambulance, air evacuation via Life Flight and the County hearse will add to the realism of the simulation. No effort is being spared to make this as real as possible to educate the students as what not to do. After viewing the crash scenario students assembled for a program that included speeches by high school principal Kevin Dinning, Jamielyn Rupe, who spoke on driving under the influence, Idaho State Police Trooper Allen Ashby, and Wayne and Wanda Wilkerson, the parents of Josh Wilkerson, who died August 20, 2013, in a crash on Highway 95 at Mountain Meadows Road, who spoke on distracted driving. A question and a discussion session after the speakers covered lessons learned was held for the students and the students were allowed to to vent their feelings. The opportunity for our youth to witness this event is timely as summer will be here soon, bringing more student driving and time away from school. Thanks go out to the following agencies for their participation: Bonners Ferry High School, Bonners Ferry Fire, Boundary Volunteer Ambulance, Bonners Ferry Funeral Home, Life Flight LLC, Boundary County Sheriff’s Office, Bonners Ferry Police Department, South Boundary Fire, Idaho State Police, Boundary County Emergency Management and Panhandle Towing. This event is life learning for all our youth and may be done annually.

Idaho State Police Sergeant Allen Ashby, himself a graduate of Bonners Ferry High School, responded to conduct the accident investigation ...

... as a LifeFlight helicopter landed in a cloud of dust.

Local medics and fire fighters assisted the LifeFlight crew in loading the most critical "patients," and so realistic was the training (it wasn't merely a show for and by students), the "injured" students were taken by ground and air to Boundary Community Hospital, where only key personnel knew of the exercise beforehand.

And, as is all too often the case in actual DUI incidents, the driver walks away relatively unscathed, only to have to live each day hence with the costs; jail or prison, fines and other penalties, plus waking up each and every day thereafter with the memories of the friends you killed and injured on just another outing to have a good time.

That friend won't remember the last leg of his last ride with the county coroner, but his family, his friends, his classmates, will live with the painful memory of how senselessly he or she died, never having had the chance to grow up to live their promise and potential.