Lia Horyczun ’16
EE Co-Managing Editor
Last year, Paulina Howard, an EMT and a member of the THS Class of 2015, put together the first Mock Car Crash in 13 years.
On May 20th, The Class of 2016 was the first to be able to experience this from a safe distance behind the yellow caution tape.
Police Sergeant Falkenstein stated, “It was a great way for the student body of Trumbull High to understand the realities of what could happen during a motor vehicle accident that entails basically a driver being intoxicated or impaired from drugs or alcohol.”
Two cars were set up for the crash on the front grounds of THS, while actors depicted a realistic scene of the aftermath of this incident. As the injured driver was realizing what had happened, EMS, police officers, and firefighters arrived on the scene with full sirens blasting.
Photos Courtesy Ralph DeLuca
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The actors who portrayed roles in the car crash were THS students Ian Maloney (2016), an injured driver, Tess Gorton (2017), an injured driver, Emma Gorton (2017), an injured driver, and Oliver Peters (2018), who was dead-on-arrival after going through the windshield.
Ian Maloney spoke about his experience as an actor of the mock car crash.
“There wasn’t much preparation on our end,” he said. “We just had to get bloodied up, for the most part, and we got our makeup done. During it, it was kind of surreal. It was strange to be in that position, especially because I’m friends with the three of them. So to have just crashed into Emma and killed Oliver and injured Tess right next to me, it was weird. Obviously, I knew it was fake,” he added, “but it was still a strange feeling. And then especially when Mrs. Gorton came up and was yelling at me for injuring her kid and her niece, that was a little tough too.”
After her unsuccessful attempt last year of the mock car crash, Howard was beyond excited with the turnout.
“I am so pleased and thankful for all the efforts of the different departments and the school to make my event happen,” she said. “It was a lot of organizing and planning and perseverance over the past two years, when last year’s got rained out. But I learned a lot from last year, and I am so happy with the way things played out for this year and that my dream became a reality. Fire, Police, and EMS did an amazing job managing and securing the scene. It was good training for all departments as well as making an impact. If this Mock Car Crash could make even just one person think twice about their decisions and help to save even just one life, then it was so worth it,” Howard said.
THS senior Megan Anderson said, “Especially around the end of senior year, a lot of people think they’re invincible, and I get it because I feel it too. But it’s important to be careful and see what could possibly go wrong.”
In the very opening, lots of seniors looked on with horror at the realistic mess of the results of a distracted driver. At one point, they watched as the impaired driver was tested for his coordination by walking in a straight line and failed. This resulted in the impaired driver being taken away to jail.
In response to the experience, THS senior Daniel Yankura stated, “I felt it was very informative and quite eye opening. I think students will be more careful driving after seeing the Mock Car Crash.”
Chief of EMS Joe Laucella said, “We’re grateful to be part of it. We never want to see anyone get hurt, injured, or in any kind of accident. So if we could prevent these types of incidents from occurring, that is our goal.” Chief of the Trumbull Center Fire Dept. Eric Levine added, “This is not unusual to what we experience out in the field during actual extrications.”
Principal Marc Guarino concluded that “If we have one student who can think and perhaps behave a little bit differently, then it was worth bringing everybody out here for the day. So I thought it was a great opportunity, and our student body responded.”
The lesson of this mock car crash, in the words of Principal Guarino, is that “this is not a lesson on teaching you to be better drivers, this is a lesson to teach you how to make better decisions.” Be safe out there and make good decisions, because you never know what can go wrong in a dangerous situation.