Grim scene unfolds at GHS during mock accident re-enactment

"There has been an accident in front of the school," was the grim message Gallatin R-5 students heard over the school intercom at 10 a.m. last Friday.

R-5 students exited classes in order to witness the simulated aftermath of an alcohol-related, fatality accident involving two vehicles, along with student actors, local law officers and emergency responders. The mock accident was produced and sponsored by R-5 chapters of HiStep and FCCLA.

In addition to student actors, the re-enactment also included Chief Mark Richards and members of the Gallatin Police Department, members of the Gallatin Fire Department, Daviess County ambulance crews and a local coroner, who pronounced the "fatality" dead at the scene in front of the victim’s mother.

Firemen are shown here extricating an accident victim from a mangled vehicle using the "jaws of life," as high school students look on in the background. Late in the day, a memorial service was held in the high school gymnasium.

A follow-up seat belt check on Tuesday marked the end of the six-week "Battle of the Belt" campaign at GHS. School districts across the state, with the help of the Missouri Department of Transportation, are participating in this campaign in an effort to raise safety awareness among young drivers. Of 108 student drivers checked entering the GHS parking lot Tuesday morning, 102, or 94%, were wearing a seat belt. That compares to only 54% wearing a seat belt during a check last month.