Gary Burns, a reserve RCMP constable, vividly remembers when his older brother was in a serious car crash just days before Christmas in 1965.
Burns, who was a youngster at the time, said he came across the crash scene on his way to school.
He was also with him when his brother died from his injuries just a few days later.
Burns said that incident impacted his life, and, as a result, he decided to be an RCMP officer and has dedicated his career to trying to ensure others don’t meet the same fate.
“I’ve been to more then 500 fatal accidents in my career, and about 10,000 other accidents as well,” he said as hundreds of Grade 12 students watched emergency personnel deal with a mock accident at Cowichan Secondary School on Oct. 19.
“People always think accidents happen to somebody else. We all make choices, and it’s important that you make good ones.”
Actors from the school played the roles of the drivers and passengers involved in the crash scenario.
They were made up to reflect injuries in a high-risk driving collision and first responders were quickly on site, treating the fake accident as a real scene.
Car crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens in B.C., so ICBC and emergency services staged the mock accident as part of National Teen Driver Safety Week.
Colleen Woodger, a road safety coordinator with ICBC, said two youths die a month in B.C. in car crashes, and 20 youths are injured every day.
“It’s mostly preventable with education and encouraging young drivers to plan ahead, make good choices and make sure they leave their cell phones alone while driving,” she said.
“Distracted driving is the number one cause of accidents among young drivers.”
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Evan Shumka, who studies drama as part of his school curriculum, was the student who played the part of the youth who caused the mock accident.
He said that, after participating in the exercise, he wouldn’t want to be in a real-life accident.
“My mother was once in an accident in which she had her back broken,” he said. “I certainly wouldn’t want me or any of my friends to experience such a thing.”
robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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