Wreckage Is Sober Warning to Students on Eve of Prom Night

The mangled 1985 Thunderbird, its body broken in half and its windshield shattered, sat in the courtyard of Chatsworth High School on Thursday as students on their lunch break circled it to take a closer look.

The car, towed to the courtyard early that morning, wasn’t a senior class prank but a serious anti-drunk-driving message to students, especially those who will be attending the school’s senior prom at the Sheraton Premiere Hotel tonight.

Along with Chatsworth, a number of other Valley high schools are planning anti-drunk-driving programs and rallies before senior proms. At Oakwood School in North Hollywood, where a student was killed in February in an accident involving a drunk driver, students will hold a celebrity-filled rally against drunk driving on May 17, said Sue Hinkin, director of development for the school.

SADD Sponsors Assembly

At Granada Hills High School, the Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) chapter sponsored an assembly Monday for the senior class, which will hold its prom on May 17, Principal Anne Falotico said. At the assembly, a student who is a recovering alcoholic spoke to his classmates and warned them against drinking and driving, Falotico said.

In order to buy tickets to the prom, Granada Hills students were required to sign a contract under which they agree not to drink or use drugs on prom night, Falotico said. The contracts must be signed by the students and their parents, she said.

Seniors at Grover Cleveland High School in Reseda were lectured Tuesday about responsible driving on prom night. At the school’s senior prom two years ago, several inebriated students tried to attend the prom and were turned away, assistant principal Fred Lipman said. Seniors were reminded that the school will continue to enforce a policy of excluding from the prom any student who has been drinking, he said.

May, June Danger Months

According to the California Highway Patrol, which started a “Sober Graduation” campaign last year, May and June traditionally have twice as many alcohol-related traffic deaths and injuries than any other two-month period. Information Officer Mike Maas said 7,200 young people statewide were injured or killed in May and June of 1985.

In Los Angeles County during the same two months last year, 33 people between the ages of 15 and 25 were killed in alcohol-related car accidents, Maas said, and 734 were injured. There were no separate statistics available for the Valley.

Even tuxedo rental shops have joined the campaign against drunk driving. Gary’s Tux Shop, which has five stores in the Valley and two in Los Angeles, attaches on each tuxedo it rents a red tag that says, “This tuxedo is for a memorable occasion. Have a good time. Don’t drink and drive.” The shops provide the tags in cooperation with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD).

Signs Carry Message

In the Chatsworth courtyard Thursday, protruding from the trunk of the wrecked Thunderbird, was a large sign reading: “Don’t Drink and Drive.” On the back of the sign, which was splattered with red paint, was another message in bold letters: “Drunk Driving Isn’t Funny.”

“It has made them stop and think,” said Donna Wyatt, an administrator who is sponsor of the Student Council. Wyatt had suggested that the student government display a wrecked car before the prom after learning about a similar display during an anti-drunk-driving week in March at Hamilton High School in West Los Angeles. Wyatt said student leaders at Chatsworth were enthusiastic about the idea and started looking for an appropriate car to publicize the message.

“We had to wait for a car that would get the point across,” said Adam England, student body president. The gray Thunderbird was finally found with the help of Ross Baker Towing Service, which agreed to tow the car to and from the school free. The car was involved in a fatal drunk-driving accident in April, England said. The driver of the car died after being thrown through the windshield, Wyatt said.

‘Effective Propaganda’

“It’s very effective propaganda because, after you see this, you know you shouldn’t drive drunk,” sophomore Hilary Lurros said.

At first, some students didn’t take the car seriously, said Danny Glaser, vice president of the junior class. “They didn’t believe that it can be so twisted in just one accident,” he said. “They thought that Student Council people smashed it or pushed the car over a cliff.”

Sophomore Kristy Lavine, whose teacher took her out to see the car, said some students just stood and laughed at the vehicle. “But I think it’s a good idea,” she said.

Most students questioned about the car apparently got the message.

“It scares people,” said Donna Schirmer, a junior.

Some students eating lunch in the courtyard said they would never drive drunk. Sophomore Lisa Marcos said, “If you go to a party, one person should not drink at all.”

Part of Driver Ed Class

Shelly Fried, a driver education and health teacher at Chatsworth, thought the Thunderbird was an effective warning against drinking and driving. He took all five of his classes out to the courtyard to examine the car.

Fried said many of his students had a “what-if-that-had-happened-to-me” reaction when they looked at the car. Fried said he incorporates an alcohol education lesson into the curriculum for both his driver education and health classes.

Most students in his Thursday class said they would not drive after drinking too much, but they disagreed on how many drinks it would take to keep them from behind the wheel. Some said two; others said as many as four.

Ed Chassman, a social studies teacher who has been teaching 15 years at Chatsworth, said students now are more concerned about drunk driving.

“They don’t seem to scoff at the idea of a sober graduation,” he said. “Before, they didn’t think it was so cool.”