Students get emotional perspective into consequences of distracted driving

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

“We’ll never know how many lives we saved today, but if I don’t have to come back and cover a crash scene in the second half of my career, I’ll count that as a win,” reflected Iowa State Trooper Eric Payne. 

A collision reconstructionist, he’s the self-described “last person you want to see on a crash scene.” It means someone has died.

On April 10, Payne was one of the speakers involved in a distracted driving event that gave MFL MarMac high school students an emotional perspective into the consequences of texting and driving and driving at excessive speeds.

The event—organized by high school principal Larry Meyer, mental health specialist Jessica Goltz and Monona volunteer firefighter Jeremy Schellhorn—took a multi-faceted approach to the issue of distracted driving. The group was inspired by a similar event at Seneca Area School District in Wisconsin, and began working late last year. They hoped to make an impact beyond previous drunk driving mock crashes.

“With cell phones and the number of people who text and drive, it’s rampant,” Meyer said. “We had an incident a month ago [where a student was severely injured]. We started saying ‘What can we do to get our little world to understand?’”

The group was also mindful of students’ mental health. None wanted to repeat the “Every 15 Minutes” program, where a student “died” every 15 minutes and had their obituary read over the PA system.

“There’s no blood and gore, no people laying outside the car. Everyone lives in the accident,” Goltz explained. “It’s more so showing what happens at the scene, how many people does it take. That’s the message we want to get across. In the blink of an eye, you could be in a crashed car having all these people pull you out of it.”

Students started the morning in the auditorium, watching a video that depicted a texting and driving scenario. A husband and wife are driving down the road, and an opposing vehicle has three teenagers in it. The teen driver is texting and hits the couple.

The video concluded with a page going out to Monona fire and EMS. Two Monona junior firefighters, Noah Goltz and Jacob Schellhorn, exited the auditorium and headed to the staged accident scene on Davis Street.

The student body arrived outside as first responders pulled up and began assessing the two-car accident—one vehicle with three MFL MarMac students inside and another containing teachers and husband and wife Erik and Jessica Peterson. Firefighters used jaws of life and other equipment to peel apart the vehicles, while EMTs and paramedics from Monona and Waukon removed the individuals inside.

Aside from the fire chief and a fellow firefighter who provided the vehicles, Schellhorn said first responders knew little about the mock accident scenario beforehand.

“The only thing the guys know right now is we’ll be calling them out. The only thing EMS knows is I want both units and three EMTs in each. It will be true and accurate to how we do a scene,” he said prior to the event.

Marti Post, a member of the ambulance service and Crossing Rivers Health employee, talked viewers through what was happening.

The event didn’t end there, however. Back inside, the students listened to Payne detail his response to a July 2022 crash in Dubuque that claimed the lives of three teenagers. Best friends Kennedy Elskamp and Chloe Lucas were passengers in the Chevrolet Camaro that the driver topped out at 150 miles per hour in a 50 zone. 

“Sheer adrenaline,” Payne described. “Music thumping. Sending Snapchats. The speedometer is pegged. Testosterone is flowing for the driver, who’s showing off for these two hot chicks. Life is good. In the blink of an eye, it was over.”

“Everything you saw out there was what we were going to have to do to recover three dead teens,” Payne told the audience. “Just like you saw on the screen. That happens, and it did happen.”

In the days after the crash, Kennedy and Chloe’s families sought answers. 

“I can tell the parents how they died, but I can’t tell them why they got in a car, why everything came to be on that day that ripped their daughters from their lives,” Payne recalled. “But I was able to direct their energy to this car and legislation.”

The Iowa State Patrol took possession of the mangled white Camaro, using it to raise awareness in the western part of the state. Kennedy and Chloe’s family and friends also filmed a video called “The Devastation of Speed,” created through the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau.

“I want you to listen to the joy, but listen to the pain,” Payne said before showing the video. “This crash didn’t just affect family and friends. It affected all first responders, it affected me. This is a crash I will never forget.”

Afterward, the auditorium—already awash in tears—grew even more emotional as the teen girls’ parents took the stage. It was their first time addressing a student body.

The video, acknowledged Kennedy’s dad, Tony Elskamp, “was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done. This whole situation is difficult. We rip a band-aid off every time we talk about it, but it’s worth it to save one of you guys, to save one of your families from going through it.”

Chloe’s father, Jon Lucas, asked students to consider the consequences of their decisions.

“As I sit here and look at all you kids, I can definitely see each one of you in one of them three kids in that car. I see a lot of tears, a lot of sadness, but if you look next to you, your best friend, your classmate, in the blink of an eye, because of something so stupid, you will never see them again,” he shared. “These girls had plans to go to college, plans to be bridesmaids in their friends’ weddings. They were going to be seniors and graduate together. And it’s all gone. Because of something stupid, because they wanted to go fast. Speed isn’t worth it.”

Tess Lucas, Chloe’s stepmother, said it’s the families’ mission now to save others. 

“Both girls had a vision to run their lives helping save others. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do that, so we decided to take that legacy and do it for them. We couldn’t save our kids, but we can save you,” she pleaded.

Even a tearful principal Meyer made a pitch to the students.

“This is stuff that should go straight to your heart. I hope it does,” he said. “The number of people you love and the number of people who love you is pretty staggering. You don’t want to blow it or lose it because you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing when you’re in a car.”

The parents were part of one of four breakout sessions the students attended later that morning. Other topics included what happens at the emergency room when a traumatic event occurs and the legal and financial ramifications of distracted driving. Students also viewed the Camaro—back in northeast Iowa for the first time since the crash—and another mangled car from a local texting and driving accident.

Time after time, students said the families’ message was the most impactful part of the day. Tony Elskamp and Jon Lucas appreciated the response. 

“We didn’t prepare a speech, didn’t prepare a timeline. We just went up there and talked. We live it every day,” Elskamp said. “Our goal is to get this message out to every high school in the state of Iowa. We want this type of program to shine a light on tragedy and what poor choices make.”

“If they take that with them and we can save one life, then we accomplished what we came up here to do,” Lucas added.

Payne said the event served as a creative avenue to utilize what can be learned through tragedy.

“Tragedy has a story to tell that we can share and try to influence people’s behavior,” he explained. “This is a final piece to show it can happen here. It’s not just something we talk about or show a video of. It can happen here to one of my friends.”

“It’s an empowerment to get that little voice in the back of their head—and not just for the students, but the staff, firefighters, our own people—‘Hey, you need to slow down. Put that phone down. You’ve had one too many.’ Empower that voice and let it speak a little louder. Confront your friends about it. Speak up and say something,” Payne continued.

Schellhorn, the Monona volunteer firefighter, was also optimistic. 

“What we’ve set up, every kid will get something out of it. Every adviser, every adult, is going to take a second look. I know I’ve done it and us three have talked about it. We’re driving down the road and our phone rings. It’s going to hit home,” he shared. “It’s changed us three, for sure [referencing Meyer and Goltz].”

In the days since the distracted driving event, Meyer said chatter at school was non-stop. Four other schools reached out about holding similar events after seeing a video created by Cheri Moser, who handles marketing for the district.

“We’ve never done anything like this and we’re going to learn a lot. It’s a prototype,” he said. “Any help any other school wants, we’ll help them out.”

MFL MarMac plans to hold the distracted driving event every two to three years, so each high school class can experience it once or twice.