Crash event organizers deserve thanks

The folks who put together last Friday’s “mock crash” did a great service to the whole community.

The event, designed to give young drivers a taste of the reality of a car crash, not something depicted neatly for a television scene, probably left an impression even on the Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High kids who tried not to be impressed, the way kids often do.

Judging by the looks on most of their faces, the drama was enough to deliver the message, just as a gripping drama in any medium often does when it elicits a tightness in your throat or a tear in your eye.

They were watching people they know act out a tragedy that left some of their friends dead and loved ones devastated. Just the thought of that can induce emotion, so watching it had to have an effect on most. One girl said later the event left her feeling sad. That’s good.

In 2014, 2,623 teenagers died in car wrecks in the United States, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. That number has been coming down steadily since the nation began to reject the notion that teen drinking and driving is just a right of passage. In 1975, the number was 8,748.

The mock car crash was well organized and planned by the Colville Tribal Police, who hope, as we do, that a little drama will go a long way toward saving some lives.

Scott Hunter

editor and publisher