Mock collision shows harsh realities of drunk driving
By Debbie Sporich
Acorn Staff Writer

GENE DOWD/The Acorn PLAYING 'POSSUM' FOR A GOOD REASON--Cal Lutherna University student Sean McGaugher acts like he's seriously injured in an all-day re-enactment of a drunk driving accident on the campus recently. The purpose of the exercise was to drive home the realities of driving drunk to the students.

Along Memorial Parkway within the California Lutheran University (CLU) campus a re-enactment of a traffic collision that involved a drunk driver took place Wednesday of last week.

It was a "bloody mess" as several teams of paramedics and medical response units worked to free ‘‘victims’’ from a black Nissan Sentra that was struck by a red Pontiac Firebird driven by a ‘‘drunk’’ female.

Everyone needed medical attention, and in the end, three "died."

Two were pronounced dead at the scene including Malika Rice, the driver of the Nissan who had to be pried from the vehicle, and Sean McGaughey who was seated in the front passenger seat.

Nicole Hackbarth was seated in the middle seat and was taken away on a stretcher and later died at the hospital, Sven Erik Nisja, who was seated behind the driver sustained critical injuries. Jimmy Fox, who was seated behind the passenger seat, sustained cuts and bruises.

Jennifer Rogers was the drunk driver who was handcuffed and taken away by deputies to undergo a sobriety test, which, of course, she failed.

Jenny Bryden, coordinator of educational programs at CLU, worked with Dep. Darren Rich of the Thousand Oaks Police Department to bring the demonstration to the college campus.

Bryden worked closely with Rachelle Berglund, educational program student coordinator, to put the program together. And the demonstration was deliberately not announced to the student body to add yet another element of reality for onlookers.

"We wanted it to be a surprise to everyone, and I think it was really well received," Berglund said.

Berglund said she selected this particular group of students to participate in the demonstration because they’re extremely involved in their school. One is a football player, another one is a soccer player; one is a resident assistant. Others are drama students or members of the student body government.

The hope is that students looking at the scene will recognize the "victims" and realize that it really could happen.

Berglund also said that she wanted the drunk driver to be driving alone in the car, because this is typically what happens at parties.

"That drunk driver thinks ‘I’m okay, and I will just go by myself. That way, I won’t hurt anyone else,’" Berglund said.

Katie Popiel from Camarillo is a student at CLU who was among a group that saw the tragedy unfold. She said she thought it was a great idea and was surprised by the reaction of some of her classmates who laughed when they realized it wasn’t a real accident.

"As college students, it’s not something that we confront. A lot of people were taking it lightly, but I guess it was easier to do that than face the reality of the situation. I hope they will take the message seriously," Popiel said.

The acting didn’t stop when the last person was driven away in an ambulance and the crumbled cars were towed from the scene.

It continued throughout classes that day and that evening at the memorial service that was held in the campus chapel.

Rich said that throughout the day kids will notice an empty seat in their classroom and say, "Where’s Jenny?" and their classmates will say, "Didn’t you hear? She died this morning in a car crash."

Rich added that while the sheriff’s department has been doing this program for three and a half years mostly on high school campuses, they don’t take it that far for high school students.

Speaking at the memorial service that evening was friends and parents of the students who were acting as victims as well as friends of the real CLU student who recently died in car crash and was found to have alcohol in his system.

According to traffic Sgt. Patti Salas, there were 399 drunk drivers arrested from the east Ventura County area last year.

She said year-to-date, they’ve had five fatal collisions and three out of the five were alcohol-related.