Bucktail Seniors Deliver Powerful Message on Dangers of Texting and Driving with Realistic Mock Crash

By Kevin Rauch

It’s something an increasingly smaller percentage of daily drivers can claim to have never done, texting and driving. Although the dangers seem quite obvious, the practice has almost become part of daily life and something that you can observe every day.

Bucktail seniors and both members of the Citizen’s Hose Company Station #28 of South Renovo Ethan Kalafut and Jeremy Gallagher wanted to bring attention to the growing problem to the students of Bucktail Area High School through their senior projects.

In a dramatic performance, joined by dozens of emergency rescue personal from western Clinton County, the duo did just that on Friday at the school campus. It was a scene that so terrifying realistic, many who have never seen an actual accident site may not have even realized just how real and true to detail it was.

The students walked out of the school into the parking lot to the mock stage.

A 12 year-old was lying next to her bicycle, while a white pickup had the tree that it had slammed into, after hitting the girl, on top of the windshield as both occupants were trapped inside. 

As the call rang out over the communications center, rescue vehicles of all types rolled into Farwell, surveying the scene and assessing the victims.

Just minutes into the enactment, the young girl was pronounced dead, a white sheet draped over her in front of the watchful eyes of the student body. The eerie stage remained like throughout the presentation, a horrific reminder of what distracted driving can lead to.

From there responders worked on freeing the two young men in the truck. Although the scene was not real, the training became of great practical use for Kalafut and Gallagher.

Personally using tools such as ‘the jaws of life’, the seniors helped their fellow fireman cut away from the vehicle, as EMS crews eventually removed and stabilized the victims. Ultimately, the driver would go from stretcher to handcuffs, before being placed into the back of a PA State Police Cruiser.

Deputy Chief #28 Eric Knauff acted as the mentor for the seniors and young firemen, and was quite proud of the work that they had put into their senior projects.

“At the start of Ethan’s senior year, he approached me with the idea of organizing a mock car crash focused on the dangers of texting and driving. He asked if I’d be willing to mentor him for his senior project” Knauff explained. “About a week later, Jeremy came to me with his own senior project idea—volunteering at the firehouse. I told him it sounded a bit limited and suggested he meet with Ethan to see if they might want to partner up, since Ethan’s project required a lot of planning.”

After meeting, the two agreed to join forces.

“From there, it was months of coordination” recalled the deputy chief. “They had to set a date for the event, get it approved by their advisor, and create a formal invitation for local first responders and police. Once they confirmed who would be involved, Ethan and Jeremy held a planning meeting to finalize the agenda. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for the event day and bringing all their hard work to life.”

“Ethan and Jeremy put a lot of time, effort, and dedication into the project. Their commitment paid off-the event was a success” Knauff said of the program.

The following was a message to the students following the mock accident scene:

If you cause an accident where someone is injured or killed, law enforcement can use cell phone records as evidence that you were texting and driving at the time of the crash. Deleting texts won’t matter, most officers will go straight to your cell phone service provider for records that show texts were sent and received. If you are testing while driving and you kill someone, you can potentially carry a penalty as high as any other manslaughter with and aggravating factor. The crime can potentially carry a penalty as high as any other manslaughter charges that arise from a gross indifference to the safety of others. It can be as high as 20 years in some circumstances.