South San Francisco, CA March 25, 2015 by Leslie Arroyo City of South San Francisco
“Every 15 Minutes” offers real-life experiences without real risks. The program is designed to hopefully dramatically instill teenagers with the potentially dangerous consequences of drinking and driving. “Every 15 Minutes” challenges students to think about drinking and driving, personal safety and the responsibility of making the right decisions when lives are involved.
The high school students chosen to participate in the program are asked to participate in real life scenarios without the real life risks. Some of the things the students participate in are crash re-enactments, courtroom scenes and a funeral. The parents of the students are also asked to participate in this program to show the students the affect that it has on other people besides them. This event includes participation of our Police and Fire Departments, high school staff, local hospitals, video production crew, community officials, the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), funeral homes and a wide cross-section of the community at-large. The goal is to utilize the strength, talent and resources of the business and industry to prevent drunk driving.
Police, Fire and alcohol prevention groups are warning teen drivers to be extremely careful as the deadliest four months of the year begin in May with proms, graduation, summer months and vacations.
Stats:
* It was once said…, someone was killed in a drunk driving crash every 15 minutes (This is where the program got its name when it first started). Fortunately, over the years this has improved slightly. Now it is estimated that on average every 52 minutes, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash (10,076 people died in total in 2014).
* Every two minutes, someone is injured from this entirely preventable crime
* Every day in America, another 28 people die as a result of drunk driving crashes.
* Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and about a quarter involve an underage drunk driver.
* Teen alcohol use kills 4,700 people each year – that is more than all illegal drugs combined.
* One in every three traffic deaths involve drunk driving.
