Friends don’t let friends drive drunk

In 2014, 9,967 people died in the United States due to motor vehicle crashes, as a result of drunk driving. We all know that drunk driving is a terrible thing, but what if you were given the chance to walk through a drunk driving accident, and experience firsthand all of its repercussions?

On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Pi Beta Phi, in partnership with Phi Beta Sigma, will be sponsoring their annual Mock Car Crash event in the auditorium of the Student Union.

The women of Pi Beta Phi described the event as somewhat of a simulation of being at a party, blacking out and then waking up with no clue what went on, and dealing with the consequences from there.

“It will start with a ‘mock-tail’ hour, so we’ll have drinks, non-alcoholic, and everyone will be mingling and such. Then, we’re going to be having something called a blackout and all the lights will go off,” said Cassidy Nugent, an executive board member of Pi Beta Phi. “That’s kind of going to represent you blacking out at a party. And then, when the lights come on, there’s going to be a trial, you know, where someone is being charged for their actions and you have no clue what happened.”

Lauren Valigosky, Pi Beta Phi’s Vice President of Administration, said that they will be having University of Toledo law students acting as lawyers in the trial. They also hired a real judge to serve as the judge in the mock trial, to make it more realistic.

For the Pi Phi women, this event holds a much more personal meaning than teaching others about the repercussions of driving drunk.

“Pi Beta Phi started this event to remember one of our members who passed away about 20 years ago from a drunk driving accident. Kathryn Hoban was hit and killed by a drunk driver just off campus,” said Logan Griesinger, president of Pi Beta Phi. “This is something that we don’t want anyone to have to go through, so we began this event to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol, and in hopes of helping to prevent something like that from happening again.”

The group emphasized how they hope to express to everyone how terrible the consequences can be, and another way in which they will do so through this event is by having the parents of a college student who was killed by as a result of drunk driving coming to speak.

“At the end, we’re also going to have the Hoeflinger family speak. Brian was actually a member of the Ottawa Hills community, he was in a drunk driving accident and died,” Valigosky said.

According to Griesinger, Pi Beta Phi has been hosting this event for two years, and she said that they are hoping to have an even better turnout than last year.

“I really encourage students to attend because so often college students think nothing bad will happen to them, or that their decisions will not impact others, and that simply isn’t true,” Griesinger said. “What may seem like an innocent night out with friends could turn deadly in the blink of an eye. We all could use a reminder of this harsh reality because life is just too precious to not truly understand that.”

Although this is meant to be a serious event, those who planned it said that they also hope that all who attend have some fun as well.

“It’s a very cool way to look at a serious situation. The event really makes a scary situation fun, and it puts everything in perspective for students, you know, if they’re really going to go through with driving drunk,” Nugent said.

All UT students are encouraged to come to the event, and Pi Beta Phi hopes that they can get their powerful message through to everyone in attendance.

“I personally feel this is an important event because alcohol is so present in the lives of college students. From the time freshmen arrive on campus until their senior year, alcohol is most times present or available,” said Griesinger. “It is my hopes that student come to the Mock Car Crash and learn the dangers they are exposed to when they consume irresponsibly.”