Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station will partner with the city of Santa Clarita and Golden Valley High School administration to conduct an “Every 15 Minutes” program at Golden Valley High School on Thursday, February 7, 2019.

Please note that Robert C. Lee Parkway will be closed on Thursday, February 7, 2019, between the hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the program, and there may be traffic delays in the area of Golden Valley High School during that time.

The “Every 15 Minutes” is an emotionally charged program designed to inculcate teenagers with the consequences associated with drinking alcohol, reckless driving and ‘life choices.’ Youth will be educated regarding the severe dangers awaiting those who make these ‘life choices,’ particularly those related to reckless driving, speed contests, drinking alcohol or using drugs and driving, and now distracted driving and texting.

Deputies will join forces with school officials and select students to ‘drive’ the message home. Several students will be taken from classes on Thursday, as if they had been ‘lost’ in a tragic incident. They will be joined by other student program participants at a driving under the influence (D.U.I.) simulated collision scene, which will be set up near Golden Valley High School for the students to view, depicting fatalities and serious injuries to several students. The ‘injured’ students will be treated at the scene by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and taken to a local hospital. The ‘drunk driver’ will be arrested and transported to Santa Clarita Superior Court, where a simulated conviction for manslaughter will occur.

Following the school demonstration and court proceedings, the program participants will visit the Santa Clarita Valley Youth Grove at Central Park and the Eternal Valley Mortuary. Guest speakers will speak to program participants at the Youth Grove. The students involved in the two-day program will then visit a local hotel for dinner, where community members who have experienced real-life drunk driving related tragedies in their family will speak to the students, and counselors will talk about how it feels to lose a loved one in a drunk driving related incident. The student participants will also draft a letter to be given to their parents that begins with this phrase: “Yesterday I was killed by a drunk driver and I never got to tell you….”

An assembly will be held at Golden Valley High School on Friday for the junior and senior classes where several guest speakers who had family members killed in collisions in the Santa Clarita Valley in past years, will convey their strong and emotional messages. All family and community members are encouraged to get involved and frequently talk to their youths about the discussed topics.

Credentialed members of the press are invited to attend.

Funding for the program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the California Highway Patrol and the City of Santa Clarita.

For additional information contact Deputy C. Hartman at 661-255-1121 or at cahartma@lasd.org