Crime & Safety

[VIDEO] Accident Re-Enactment Shows Nyack Teens Dangers Of Prom Night Drinking And Driving

Realistic re-creation of crash scene timed for prom season.

Don't let this happen to you.

That's the message from police, volunteer firefighters and ambulance crews, educators and anti-drunken driving activists for seniors as they head to their prom tonight.

A realistic accident re-creation at the high school campus in Upper Nyack graphically showed students what can happen if they drink and drive — or let distractions take their eyes off the road. Combining the resources of Clarkstown police and local volunteer first-responders from the Valley Cottage and Nyack fire departments and the Nyack Community Ambulance Corps, a re-creation showed step-by-step what happens at the scene of a DWI accident — with students playing the roles of accident victims and a drunk driver who ends up in handcuffs and appearing before a judge.

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Valley Cottage Fire Chief Howard Gerber, who is a Nyack High School parent and is also a Clarksotwn Town Court judge, said the re-recreation is designed to be as realistic as possible — including a funeral home hearse to take away the body of a teen "killed" in the accident.

As seniors get set for their prom tonight, the "wreckage" of the two cars cut open by firefighters in the re-enactment remain on the lawn of the high school just off Christian Herald Road.

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Gerber, who organized the re-enactment, said he and other first-responders hope the realistic demonstration leaves a lasting impression on the seniors so they will avoid dangerous situations tonight.

The re-enactment showed how firefighters and emergency medical personnel respond to an accident scene, with Nyack High School students playing the roles of crash victims. However, the re-enactment left the realm of demonstrations when Howard Lasner spoke to the gathered students to tell them about his son, Ben, who was killed in a 2004 crash on Route 9W.

He urged the students to be careful behind the wheel, and be careful who they get into a car with if they are a passenger.


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