Acadia Parish Choices 2015

Students viewed a mock roll-over with a dummy who was not wearing a seatbelt.
Students viewed a mock roll-over with a dummy who was not wearing a seatbelt.

The Acadia Parish community has been working hard to carry the distracted, drunk and drugged driving awareness issue to teens in high schools in Louisiana through their “Choices” program. This year’s annual 3- day event just concluded this weekend, with the highlight, the filming of a mock crash, the events leading up to it and the consequences afterward. The mock filming included students at a bar, scenes from the crash, hospital, courthouse and funeral. Six high schools participated, with students taraveling to each high school to film a different segmaent of the video. In follow-up, the video will be played at all of the high schools, reaching thousands more students.

acadia parish choices 2015
Speakers Liz Marks (L) Reggie Shaw and Betty Shaw

EndDD.org’s Joel Feldman, was pleased to participate at the request of Jennifer Smith’s initiative,  StopDistractions.org.  Also speaking were Liz Marks and her mother, Betty Shaw and Reggie Shaw, all of whom have been impacted by a distsracted driving tragedy.

The event incuded texting and drunk driving simulators as well as fun times for the students, including face painting and more.

Choices 2015 was organized by the  Acadia Parish Parish Sherriff’s Office in parternship with the Lafayette Police Department, Scott Police Department and the ATF,  (U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives).

Way to go Louisiana!

LA tropper, "I have never unbuckled a dead person after a crash."
LA tropper, “I have never unbuckled a dead person after a crash.”
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Maxine Trahan, Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office

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