VIDEOS: The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District held a mock crash outside its high school the day before prom to show students the dangers of driving drunk and distracted. A PSA-style video was created by 518 Media Productions to share the message of safety beyond this community.
“There’s 300 students. They see a car on fire. They see someone unresponsive. They see a young driver that’s one of their peers that allegedly was driving intoxicated,” stated Michael Siiss, Executive Director of Ballston Lake EMS. The only script these actors, who are real first responders and law enforcement officers, had to go off of was the introduction of the accident. From there, Benjamin Miller, who put the video together and is an EMT at Ballston Lake, says the actions that follow are 100% accurate to a real scene.
“All the agencies we work with are very professional and they do a great job, but it doesn’t matter who you are; you show up to one of those situations and it’s a lot of chaos.”
When prom happened one day later, Deputy Sheriff Zach Cicardi said students weren’t allowed to leave until they promised they wouldn’t make any bad choices. “We shake their hands, we tell them to be safe. A lot of time, most of the same students come back to the school for an after prom event that’s hosted with food trucks. It’s a way where we know kids are making safe choices.”
It’s also the job of parents to keep their kids safe. Assistant Principal Tom DiAcetis is thankful for how many parents were involved in the mock crash. He told NEWS10’s Anthony Krolikowski that one parent was responsible for the use of a helicopter. “It also just reinforced to our students how serious not only the school system takes it, but our community and stepping up and taking the time to help us with this event.”
