MADD’s Latest Weapon

So where is MADD going with their “War on Drunk Driving”?

El Camino Teens Face Heavy Emotions Brought

About by Drunken-Driving Dramatization

Oceanside, CA.  May 30 — It was an elaborate hoax, but 36 students at El Camino High pulled it off with potentially life-saving consequences.

The result was a soberingly realistic dramatization about the dangers of drinking and driving, delivered with surprising professionalism.

Many juniors and seniors were driven to tears – a few to near hysterics – May 26 when a uniformed police officer arrived in several classrooms to notify them that a fellow student had been killed in a drunken-driving accident.

The officer read a brief eulogy, placed a rose on the deceased student’s seat, then left the class members to process their thoughts and emotions for the next hour.

The program, titled “Every 15 Minutes,” was designed by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Its title refers to the frequency in which a person somewhere in the country dies in an alcohol-related traffic accident.

About 10 a.m., students were called to the athletic stadium, where they learned that their classmates had not died…

Though the deception left some teens temporarily confused and angry, “If it makes even one student think twice before getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated, it is worth the price”, said California Highway Patrol Officer Eric Newbury, who orchestrates the program at local high schools.

“I want them to be an emotional wreck. I don’t want them to have to live through this for real.”

The laws of every state in this country include a right to sue for the tort of “intentional infliction of emotional distress”.  Are MADD and the California Highway Patrol immune?  Or is this another example of the “DUI Exception”?

(Thanks to John Kruzelock.) 

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