Smoke rose from the scene of the crash as one car lay on its side, bodies of victims scattered on the ground, while the other car sat upright with a body of a teenager on the hood, a passenger who had been ejected through the windshield.
Red and blue lights lit up the night and paramedics, firefighters and law enforcement officers worked feverishly to treat the injured and prepare them for transport to a medical facility. A long, white hearse sat to the side, and a dark specter in a black robe and hood strode quietly through the carnage. The Grim Reaper had come to claim his victims.
Thankfully, this was a mock accident, and no one was injured, and the Grim Reaper left the scene empty-handed. It was the second ever ‘Stop the Knock’ scenario presented at the Louisville Coliseum with juniors and seniors from all local schools as spectators to the gruesome event, presented this past Thursday morning.
‘Stop the Knock’ is a program developed by the Mississippi Highway Patrol to hopefully make young people aware of the dangers of distracted and impaired driving, and prevent someone’s parents from hearing a knock on the door and hearing that their child will never come home again. In Mississippi, in 2018 there were 58 teen fatalities, and in 2019, at the beginning of August, there had already been 34.
MHP MSgt. Criss Turnipseed presented a slide program pointing out all the potential dangers with the accident scene as the conclusion of the program. Turnipseed stated the program had been in the works for a least six months, getting all the different pieces in place, writing a script, selecting a cast and much more.
Though the crash scene was staged, the responders were real and have deployed to such incidents in real life. Turnipseed stated that they see and deal with things that they can never really forget, things that stay with them forever.
LMSD Superintendent, Dr. Randy Grierson stated that most teenagers think that such an accident won’t happen to them, but the hope is to get their attention, make them stop and think and make wise decisions.
Participating in the scenario were personnel from Mississippi Highway Patrol, Louisville Fired Dept., Louisville Police Dept., Louisville-Winston E-911, Patient Care EMS, Nowell-Massey Funeral Home, Baker’s Ready Mix, Eubanks Wrecker Service, Burnt Orange Studio, and Lee Brown as the Grim Reaper. Crash victims were portrayed by local high school students.
Sponsors were all the above and Louisville Coliseum, Pilot Club of Louisville, Louisville Medical Clinic, Steve & Kathy Sinclair, Louisville Municipal School District and Discount Video.
