Local Students at Mt. Zion High to Participate in Crash Reenactment Event

Mount Zion High School students will participate in a crash reenactment event to understand the risks of impaired and distracted driving. The event is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Friday, April 26, at Braves Parkway near the school. It is organized by the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s ThinkFirst injury prevention program.

The reenactment will show a traffic collision and emergency response by local teams, including the Mt. Zion Police and Fire Departments, Macon County Sheriff’s Office, and Air Evac Lifeteam 182. The demonstration will emphasize the serious consequences of driving under the influence or while distracted.

Guest speakers, including Mike Burkham and Judge Shane Mendenhall, will talk about the legal and personal effects of unsafe driving. Nate Saint, a health education coordinator with ThinkFirst, highlighted the importance of careful decision-making while driving.

Saint shared statistics indicating that the U.S. sees about 1.7 million traumatic brain injuries and 12,000 to 20,000 new spinal cord injuries each year, mostly among young adults. These figures underline the need for preventive education to reduce such injuries.

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