Students urged to make a plan, act responsibly

The choices a driver makes behind the wheel of a car not only affects themselves, but also their passengers and others on the road.

Staff members from Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s office used real facts, real cases and real people who have made mistakes while driving to illustrate this point, among others, during the Choices and Consequences presentation at Valley Stream South High School on March 20.

Dozens of students from South’s junior class and their parents were in attendance for the presentation, which was directed by Assistant District Attorney Everett Witherell. Students from South performed a short skit where a drunk driver gets into an accident with people in the car and then has to face the repercussions of dealing with a police officer. The police officer, John Brigandi from the Police Department’s Central Testing unit in Mineola, told students and parents what would happen if they were caught driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Witherell stated that 40 percent of crashes deal with drugs or alcohol, which means that 60 percent do not. He said that someone dies everyday on Long Island from a drug, alcohol or speed-related crash. It’s the No. 1 cause of death for people ages 15-24, according to Witherell.

“Parents, this isn’t happening in far away places where we can’t do anything about it. Students, it’s not happening to people we don’t know,” Witherell said. “It’s our friends, it’s our classmates; parents, it’s our kids.”

Witherell cited cases that were tried in Nassau County in recent years, including a 2008 crash involving three West Hempstead seniors who were returning to school after getting lunch. Two 17-year-olds were killed in the accident, while the driver, Herbert Martinez, suffered skull fractures and multiple internal injuries. He has been confined to a wheelchair since the accident. Martinez gave a speech at the end of the presentation about how the accident has changed his life, and asked the students in the room not to make the same mistakes he did.