Stay Sober, Stay Safe: Student Resource Officers to Hold the Second Annual Drunk Driving Assembly

The second annual Drunk Driving Assembly will be held in the auditorium during seminar Thursday. The optional assembly will be led by student resource officers Lacey Daly and Tony Woollen and both students and parents are invited to attend.

According to Woollen, the assembly aims to educate the East community about making smart choices when it comes to driving and alcohol. Doing so will prevent them from facing real-life consequences, such as varying degrees of injuries, fines and loss of license.

For the first portion of the assembly, Officer and Community Education Coordinator Matt Liston from Derby, Kan. will do a presentation about his son, Colby, who lost both of his legs when he was hit by a drunk driver in 2012.

“Before this crash, before this drunk driver decided to get behind the wheel and take his athletic career away from him, [Colby] was unbelievably popular and a stellar athlete,” Daly said. “It’s amazing just how quickly things change when somebody decides to do this.”

Earlier on the day of the accident, Colby had signed papers to run track for KU. The officers hope that attendees will hear Colby’s story and realize that even they could seriously hurt someone, according to Daly.

“Parents at least talking to their kids about [driving under the influence] can make sure their kid doesn’t become a victim or like the kid that hit [Colby] and devastated a family for the rest of their lives,” Liston said.

Daly and Woollen decided to inform East students about drunk driving due to the high number of drunk driving incidents that involve teens. According to the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office, there were 209 alcohol-related crashes by 15-20 year-olds in the state of Kansas in 2017. Of those 209 crashes, 119 people were injured and 7 died.

The issue of drunk driving also directly impacts East. In a survey of 115 students, 16 have drunk driven themselves and 46 have been in the car with someone who was drunk.

“At a young age a lot of kids think that they’re invincible, it’s not gonna affect them, or that they can do it,” Liston said.

In addition to Liston’s presentation, the Kansas Highway Patrol is set to bring a Seat Belt Convincer machine for attendees to take a ride in. The machine simulates a low-impact collision for users to experience while wearing a seat belt, allowing them to understand the seat belt’s importance.

Consequences for not wearing a seat belt and driving under the influence can not only be limited to injuries and personal loss, but state and federal repercussions as well, according to Woollen. In Kansas, being charged with a minor in possession (MIP) can incur fines of up to $500, up to 40 hours of community service and 30 days to a year with a suspended license according to statute KSA 41-727.

“Decisions that are made can affect your life, for the rest of your life, and I think it’s important to share that from time to time,” Liston said.

Senior Camille Vandergriff has seen the negative effect that drunk driving can have on a family firsthand.

Her mom, Rebekah Vandergriff, was hit by a drunk driver when she was 22 years-old and it continues to drastically affect her life. She suffers from a traumatic brain injury, a popped-out clavicle, arthritis in the left side of her body and her right arm doesn’t fully function.

“It’s something that we have to talk about every single day,” Camille said. “She can’t walk up the stairs very well, she can’t go to the mall with us because it hurts her ankle too bad.”

Before the accident, Rebekah was a model and travel agent. Now, she is the author of the book, What Day Is It? A Family’s Journey Through Traumatic Brain Injury and a cognitive therapist to help others cope with their brain injuries. The accident not only changed her career, but her approach to life as a whole.

“I’ve had to switch my thinking around to what I can do, rather than what I can’t do,” Rebekah said. “Because if I were to dwell on it, then it would make my whole existence different. I would be an angry person.”

Camille will be attending the assembly and hopes that others will too because in her opinion, awareness about drunk driving is key to preventing it. The officers are hopeful that the assembly will start a conversation about driving under the influence or even just a second thought before getting behind the wheel while drunk.

“Hopefully the next time somebody goes to get in a car and drive after they’ve been drinking, maybe they’ll think back to something they heard or saw during the assembly and think, ‘Okay, maybe I should not get in the car right now,’” Daly said. “That’s our hope.”

Photo by Ally Griffith