A student from Deerfield, Mary Rienhart, came to speak to the students of Brodhead High on May 12. She came with the message, always wear your seatbelt whenever you get into a car. She lost 3 of her friends because of an alcohol related accident. She was the only one in the car to survivie because she was wearing her seatbelt.

Later, the students from the high school and middle school went outside to witness the Wisconsin State Patrol’s crash simulator called, The Convincer. This is a device that simulates an accident at 5-10 MPH. You are seat belted into the chair, and blindfolded; the chair is then rolled down an incline until it hits the bottom at about five to ten miles per hour. Even at 5 or 10 MPH, a person is thrown forward with enough force to cause pain. And accidents usually happen at much higher speeds, Chief Richard Bennett said.

After the crash simulations Deputy Police Chief Dave Wickstrum spoke about the dangers of drinking and driving. As a sheriffs deputy, his job was to visit all car fatalities in the county. He also gave some facts to consider. Last week the police station conducted a survey of the high school, and it showed that 42% of students wear their seatbelt. Which is well below the national average of 72%.