Dangerous Driving Simulations at Yerington High School and Smith Valley Schools

Yerignton and Smith Valley, NV - On January 11, 2018, Daron Wildermuth's Driver’s Ed class at Yerington High School (YHS) conducted a presentation on distracted driving.  Students, the local fire department and local law enforcement were part of bringing the presentation together.

From the Mason Valley News on the presentation:

One out of every four vehicle accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving. That point was driver home to Yerington High School students Thursday as they watched one of their classmates “die” in a mock vehicle accident.  

Filtering out of the hallways and cafeteria, students turned a corner to see a mangled car with one student still trapped inside and three other students ejected from the vehicle. While one of the students outside the vehicle was upright and able to move about, another, sprawled across the trunk of the car, was already dead.

The LCSO, Yerington Police Department and Mason Valley Fire were all on hand. They worked quickly to use hydraulic rescue tools to extract sophomore Cassidy Miller, who was trapped inside the vehicle.

“Seeing your own kid in there kind of brings it home,” said her dad, Lyon County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jeff Miller, who also coaches football at the school.

The mock accident was a project put on by students in Daron Wildermuth’s driver’s education class. This year marks the first year the school is offering a full year of driver’s education, he said.

Before students headed out to the accident, they watched a short video of a distracted driver getting into an accident while glancing down at their phone.

 “Things like that happen real quick,” Wildermuth told the students. “You guys have to decide if you’re going to do it or not.”  

It’s been just over three years since Yerington High School saw one of its own students die in a vehicle accident. Junior Nevin Nez and a friend of his older brother were ejected from a vehicle that rounded a curve too quickly in southeast Mason Valley.

“People say it can’t happen, but it has happened here,” Miller said. “The kids know someone [it has happened to.]”

Earlier this school year, Smith Valley Schools (SVS) also put on a dangerous driving scenario.  The CTE Video class under the direction of Laura Smith-Fillmore created the following video to simulate a two car crash on campus.  Many agencies were involved including Lyon County Sheriff's Office, Nevada Highway Patrol, CareFlight, Smith Valley and Mason Valley Fire Protection Districts, South Lyon Medical Center Emergency Department, Freitas-Rupracht Funeral Home, Silver State Towing and many SVS contributors.  The class is very proud of their contribution to documenting the effects and hopefully preventing distracted driving and driving under the influence.  Both Tom Spencer and Travis Walker, fire fighters for the Smith Valley community, were in the classroom viewing the students make their edits, and both of these firefighters were impressed with the student work.

**All photos are simulations and not an actual incident**