POTSDAM -- Students at Potsdam High School will be able to hear and see the dangers of drunk driving and distracted driving on Friday.

Students will start the morning at 8 a.m. learning more about DWI. Guest presenters include Erin Towne, Jim Barr of Potsdam Rescue and Officer Kyle Fink of Potsdam Police Department, along with Michele James of St. Lawrence County Stop DWI.

After the assembly juniors and seniors will watch a mock DWI at about 8:30 a.m. in the north parking lot. It will feature a LifeNet helicopter landing near the scene. Police, ambulances, fire trucks and extrication will be provided by Potsdam Police Department, Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad, Potsdam Fire Department, and West Potsdam First Responders. The scene will end with the arrival of personnel from the Garner Funeral Home.

Then the juniors will visit Canton-Potsdam Hospital to view a two-hour program, “Let’s Not Meet by Accident,” a trauma prevention, distracted driver, and alcohol education program for teens who are new drivers, presented by the hospital, Potsdam Rescue, the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Lawrence County STOP-DWI/Traffic Safety Program. Lyndsay Mcagg with Canton-Potsdam Hospital and Michele James are coordinating this program.

The following students are credited with many hours coordinating the events: senior Scott Grant, who has been coordinating the fire rescue response as his Senior Capstone Project, and Kelsey Green and Emiley Berger who coordinated the “Let’s Not Meet by Accident” program with CPH as part of their Project Based Learning (PBL) for their health class. Briana Burkum and Shanielle Chambers, both group leaders of other PBL groups, helped coordinate the morning program.

“Young drivers, ages 15 to 20 years old, are especially vulnerable to death and injury on our roadways – traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. Research shows which behaviors contribute to teen-related crashes. Inexperience and immaturity combined with speed, drinking and driving, not wearing seat belts, distracted driving (cell phone use, loud music, other teen passengers, etc.), drowsy driving, nighttime driving, and other drug use aggravate this problem.”