Drunken-driving campaign hits home at Wakefield

Wakefield High School students sat in silence last Friday, watching and listening to what can happen when a young driver makes a bad choice behind the wheel.
Students sniffed and wiped away tears as what’s been a reality in their lives for the last month was played out before them.

Five Wakefield students have died in car crashes since March.

Seniors Baker Wood, Steven George, Anthony Bostic and Timothy Steinberg were killed March 4 when the Mazda RX-8 they were riding in sped around a curve and over the U.S. 64 Bypass.

The boys’ death added a bittersweet tone to the basketball team’s championship run. They were on their way home from a playoff game in Greenville when they crashed.

Senior Ashley Riggsbee was killed last week after losing control of her car on Raven Ridge Road.

Hoping to reach students just before last Saturday’s prom, Wakefield High’s PTSA Character Education Committee and administrators sponsored the Alive at 25 program. The event simulated what happens after a wreck.

Guest speakers told students about how their lives were changed after car crashes.

It never goes away

Brandon Smith, a 2005 Wakefield graduate, told his former classmates he woke up at WakeMed two weeks after his car crash last summer. He was driving with his best friend, Ben Cummings, in the car.

Smith got behind the wheel after drinking beer they had bought from a local gas station.

Cummings was like a brother to him, Smith said. When he finally came to after the wreck, Smith said he found out his friend had been killed as a result of his actions.

“My girlfriend takes me to Ben’s grave every weekend,” Smith said.

Smith was charged with felony death by motor vehicle. He’s on probation for three years.

Smith asked students to consider the consequences of their actions before they do something that can be irreversible.

“Think of how tragic the outcome can be,” Smith said. “It’s something that never goes away.”

Every parent’s nightmare

Irma Reaves’ teenage son Brian died five years ago in a wreck on I-540.

Brian was racing another driver when he crashed. Driving more than 100 mph, he lost control of the car.

“In the blink of an eye my whole world was shattered into a million pieces,” Reaves said.

All four of the teens in the car died at the scene. It was the last day of school.

“Summer was about to begin, but not for my son and his three friends,” Reaves said.

When his classmates were preparing for graduation, Reaves was planning Brian’s funeral.

“This is every parent’s worst nightmare and I live it over and over again,” she said.

The words from a police officer telling her that her son and his friends had been killed in the wreck continue to haunt her, Reaves said.

Even eating dinner together as a family became too painful. She couldn’t bear the pain of looking at her son’s empty chair at the table.

“I just want him here,” Reaves said.

Telling her story is still difficult for Reaves. Her first time speaking to a group of students was April 10, when she, along with Mary Easley, kicked off the Governor’s Highway Safety Program’s Drive to Live at Garner High School.

Although it’s been hard for her, Reaves said she hopes her story will drive the message home to teens to make responsible choices.

Reaves also wants to talk to parents to tell them to model good driving behavior and take the keys away from their teens when they get a ticket or cause an accident. She also advises parents not to give their children fast cars.

“That was my fatal mistake,” she said.

Reaves allowed her son to drive her convertible Mitsubishi Eclipse the night he died. He’d driven the car on several other occasions without any trouble.

“He had no tickets, no accidents. I trusted him,” she said.

Really intense

Students were visibly shaken when they left the assembly. Sophomore Catherine Jones said she was surprised at the program’s effect on her.

“It impacted me a lot — more than I thought it would,” she said. “It took a lot for me not to cry.”

Jones said the program was timely with the prom being held that weekend and summer coming up.

Christie Gillespie, also a sophomore, said the assembly was “really intense.”

“I could hear people crying behind me,” she said.

Gillespie agreed that hearing the personal experiences made the program effective.

“I think this was a really good thing to do and it was a really good time to do it,” she said.

Wakefield High School Principal Steve Takacs said the personal stories added more focus to the program than when they did it two years ago.

As they were leaving, students told him they appreciated the assembly, Takacs said. Now, he said he hopes the teens will go home and discuss what they’ve seen and heard with their parents.