RCMP and Winnipeg police tend to a ‘victim’ during a mock crash demonstration in Headingley on Wednesday, September 25, 2013. (RCMP HANDOUT)
Manitoba RCMP and its partner agencies staged a mock collision on Wednesday to show students the deadly consequences of texting and driving.
The collision occurred at the Chapel Lawn Funeral Memorial Gardens in Headingley to give about 250 high school students a sense of the real life impacts being distracted behind the wheel can have.
Watching emergency personnel perform their services, the students witnessed the deadly aftermath of a mock collision based on texting and driving. As is true with real collisions, lives cannot always be saved, so the students were then invited to take part in a short funeral service for one of the victims of the mock collision.
The scenario also included an interactive demonstration involving a rollover simulator and breathalyzer test.
In 2012, 2.5% of the 81 crashes that resulted in 89 deaths on Manitoba roadways was the result of individual’s texting.
The annual event is put on by the Manitoba Brain Injury Association, with help from Manitoba Public Insurance, Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Services and STARS Air Ambulance.
Updated at 1 p.m.
