Miami Beach, Florida – The Miami Beach Fire Rescue & Police Departments along with The City of Miami Beach, The Miami Beach Coalition for a Safe, Healthy & Drug-Free Community, Florida Dept. of Transportation, Commissioner Esposito’s office, South Beach Towing, Chesed Shel Emes and Riverside Gordon Memorial Chapel hosted a Semi-Annual “You Only Live Once” Teen Anti-DUI program on Tuesday, October 30, as part of preparations for teenagers “do’s” and “don’ts” of driving. This award-winning program will be held on the local streets of Miami Beach on 24th Terrace between Pine tree Drive and Flamingo Drive.
(Full photo gallery at end of post)
This live, simulated DUI car crash presentation results in one death and several serious injuries designed to teach over 65 Miami Beach Hebrew Academy High school students about the grave consequences of drinking alcohol and/or taking drugs, including distracted driving and then driving a motor vehicle. In addition, this year’s format adds an extra emphasis of texting and talking on the phone while driving, which addresses a serious hazard affecting many youth.
Using make-up, a gallon or so of fake blood, and actual crashed vehicles, the impact of what the audience views shows upon their faces. “If experience is the best teacher, then the goal is to substitute an actual experience with a realistic educational experience that can be used as a reference for good judgment at the moment when peer pressure may force students to make difficult choices,” stated David Mogen, Public Education Coordinator for Miami Beach Fire Rescue Retired.
Administrators, teachers and students worked together with other community partners to produce this realistic drama. South Beach Towing supplied the crashed motor vehicles to help create realism for the high school students who witness this event. In addition, every agency that is being called upon to respond to this type of incident did what they normally do. The Police responded and performed the accident investigation, sobriety test and arrest. Fire Rescue extricated the victims, stabilized them and transported them to the Hospital. Chesed Shel Emes Members examined, carried and loaded the deceased into a black hearse, then they preformed the traditional Jewish accident cleanup. This year, to create an even more dramatic and cultural impact, a mock funeral for the deceased, arranged by Riverside Gordon Memorial Chapels, concluded the program.
“This event is part of a series of strategic year-round prevention and education activities by the Miami Beach Coalition promoting and empowering youth to live safe, healthy and drug-free lifestyles. With the help of many community partners, senior class students from Hebrew Academy will witness a shocking and true-to-life DUI crash and all of the different consequences to these horrific and often deadly crashes due to distracted driving. It is our sincerest hope that students attending their holiday parties and homecomings will make the choice to NOT use alcohol or other drugs, and be responsible young-adult drivers” stated Marina Aviles, Project Coordinator for The Miami Beach Coalition for a safe, healthy and drug-free community.
