FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 4, 2016
Contact: Arriale Tabson
Mobile: 615-767-3242
Tennessee Highway Safety Office, Bradley County Safety Partners Support Local Student Initiative
Bradley County Mentorship Program Inspires Teen Distracted Driving Crash Reenactment
BRADLEY COUNTY – On Friday, October 28, the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) partnered with Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), Bradley County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), Bradley County School System, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), and local emergency response teams to support a student-led crash reenactment hosted by Walker Valley High School (WVHS) to raise awareness for teen driver safety.
WVHS administrators gathered the entire student body outside as student actor volunteers, law enforcement, and emergency response personnel executed the intensely realistic reenactment. The emergency response team included Life Force Air Medical Services, Bradley County Fire - Rescue, and Bradley County Emergency Medical Service. The reenactment utilized the crashed vehicles from the teen distracted driving crash that injured McMinn County Sheriff’s Deputy Randy Gabrel in 2014.
This multi-jurisdictional collaboration and performance was initiated and coordinated by WVHS student John Ford. He was inspired to do so after completing a mentorship offered through the Pathways Bradley Youth CareerConnect program. This mentorship partnered him with Josh Pratt, a registered nurse for Tennova Medical Center Emergency Room, who helped Ford understand the devastating aftermath of motor vehicle crashes. To learn more about John Ford or the mentorship program, please contact WVHS’s Career Counselor Leah Walker atlewalker@bradleyschools.org.
View the press event and crash reenactment video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=T31QOtLIXEc
Photos can be accessed here: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPjCxQfwWtna7CdgMJUOgP7nu3pzlKPwHrJFWo43-aau4e5EinpVSjwi5rFuax0Og?key=d3ZzNWcxajJUMFBzTDBnLUFxaHM5OFZ1N3hHUXBB
Access additional content here: tntrafficsafety.org/social
For more information, contact Arriale Tabson at 615-767-3242 or arriale.tabson@tn.gov.
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The Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) is a division of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security advocating for traffic safety. THSO works in tandem with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to implement statewide programs addressing occupant protection, impaired driving, speed enforcement, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and crash data collection and analysis. Programs administered by THSO are 100 percent federally funded. THSO’s mission is to effectively develop, implement, and evaluate these programs. To learn more about THSO, please visit www.tntrafficsafety.org.