St. Paul’s sophomore through senior classes participated in the Sudden Impact program this past month, which is designed to prevent fatalities and injuries from driving impaired, distracted, and/or unrestrained.

“I was surprised on how realistic it was,” noted senior Connor Mahony.

The sophomore class visited hospitals around the area, while the junior and senior classes watched a demonstration set up by the organization. The program is conducted by Louisiana State Police and Interim LSU Public Hospital (ILH).

During the hospital visits, sophomores learned why not to drive under the influence by speaking with health care professionals from the hospital, policemen, and a bounty hunter. The bounty hunter made a significant impact on the students because his son was killed by a drunk driver. Some of the classes also spoke to survival victims from severe car accidents.

“The visit to the hospital and talking to everyone really made me think how serious driving under the influence really is,” explained sophomore William Strain.

Demonstrations for the junior and senior classes included a skit that illustrated what actually happens when there is a car accident caused by a drunk driver. The Sudden Impact Program went all-out and had two real wrecked cars and showed real policemen and firemen in action. The students that participated in the skit were seniors Christian Voelkel and Thomas Duet and juniors Handsome Monica and Justin Sciortino. The student’s parents also participated in the demonstration, which took place on the open field behind the Gene Bennett Sport Complex and was designed to show the dangers and recklessness of driving under the influence.

“The demonstration made me really think about how dangerous drunk driving is, especially since the demonstration was on the day of my homecoming dance,” said Mahony.