Jones Co. officials display 'graphic' car accident ahead of prom night

JONES COUNTY, MS. - Northeast Jones High School students witnessed a dramatic car crash demonstration Friday morning.

Jones County Sheriff's Department, Volunteer Fire Department, District Attorney's office, Coroner, and more teamed up to show teens the consequences of driving drunk ahead of prom night.

Organizer Lance Chancellor said, “It’s emotionally moving and I guess you can see a graphic representation what actually happens in a car crash.”

Firefighters, deputies, students, and even the coroner re-enacted what could be a real life scene of tragic drunk driving car accident. An accident that even involves the death of a high school classmate.

Student and actress Paige Myrick said, “I am doing this to show my classmates the big impact of drinking and driving."

Myrick added, "And I hope my classmates will take this to heart. I do not want to see my friends in a crash like this. I hope that they will make wise decisions on prom night.”

A mother and actress Rebecca Yarnell said, “We want our kids to come home safe and we do worry, but we try not to worry. But we want them to be aware, and just careful.”

According to officials Mississippi is ranked 5th in the country for fatal teen related car accidents.

“Jones county is actually one of our top counties for how many teens we lost in 2015" said Tawni Basden Program Manager for Youth Highway Safety.

She added, "To kind of break it down, we lost 78 youths in 2015 in the state." Basden said 53% of those teens were unbelted or not wearing it right.

"Then we lost 26% to speeding, and 23% to alcohol impaired driving.” According to Chancellor a student in the Brookhaven area lost her life two weeks ago on her way to prom.

Officials hope students think twice before getting behind the wheel. Northeast Jones High School's prom is next weekend.