Members of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and employees of the Mississippi Department of Transportation provided BHS with "Rover," a truck body on a machine that simulates an accident in which the vehicle rolls over with passengers inside. As the truck rolls, dummies - like Bob - inside flop around and are ejected through the windows, just like in some rollover accidents.

"We have to make sure you graduate from high school and college. And in order to do that, you have to be alive," said Alpha Phi Alpha Alumni Chapter President Dexter Holloway. "Accidents happen, and we need to make sure you're prepared."

The speakers focused on two particular safety precautions: wearing a seat belt and not drinking and driving.

MDOT representative Lisa Valadie told the group that three-quarters of the 877 people killed in Mississippi last year were unrestrained drivers.

"Do you know what happens to people inside a vehicle when it rolls?" she asked. "They look like clothes in a dryer."

Valadie asked the students to name excuses some people give for not wearing their seat belt, and they came up with things like the fact that it could wrinkle clothes or that it's uncomfortable.

"Some people also say, 'What if I have a wreck and my car catches on fire, then I couldn't get out,'" she said.

But she and MDOT worker Christy Milbourne told the students that one-half of 1 percent of wrecks end in fire and water.

"And fatalities are just the tip of the iceberg," Valadie said. "There are thousands of injuries every year where people don't die. Some of them are things like closed-head injuries, where people are vegetables for the rest of their lives."

The presenters reminded the students that a traffic fatality or other crippling accident will affect not only the life of the person in the accident, but also those around them.

"It affects the whole community and definitely affects their family," Milbourne said. "But eventually your friends are going to go on with their lives."

Holloway also told the group that not only do they need to wear a seat belt in their own vehicle, they need to encourage everyone who gets in their vehicle to do the same.

"Just because you buckle up it's not enough," he said. "You have to make it personal. You have to make sure your family and friends do, too."

With prom season coming up, being knowledgeable about the dangers of drinking and driving is imperative, the presenters said.

"You don't want this to be the most expensive prom dress or tuxedo ever," said Milbourne while holding up a body bag.

This article was provided by: Brookhaven Daily Leader
Written by: Theresa Apel