Nokesville Vol. Fire and Rescue Plans 2nd Annual Safety Awareness Event

Nokesville Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department plans to educate community members on the dangers of drunk driving and texting while driving at their Second Annual Safety Awareness event to be held April 21 from 1-4 p.m. at Patriot High School.

Those who attended last year’s event can expect a different experience this time around. According to event chairperson Sydni Beatty, last year’s message was focused on teenagers, but this year, they are opening it up to drivers of all ages.

“Our first event held last year was addressing the risks of driving while drunk to the local high school students in our immediate area. This year we have expanded the focus to all high school students and their families,” Beatty said.

In effort to educate the community on the dangers of texting behind the wheel, they have adopted the national “It Can Wait” campaign.

The Nokesville Fire and Rescue department has expanded its message because, as Beatty explains, texting and driving has become a serious threat to all drivers on the road, and people continue to underestimate how dangerous it is to text while driving. Of course, teens, being both active smart phone users and new drivers, are the worst offenders of texting and driving and often suffer the consequences.

“We continue to see a rise in the number of teenagers that are being seriously injured or killed because of texting while driving,” Beatty said.

The main attraction planned for the event is a simulated response to a mock auto accident, including the landing of rescue helicopter AirCare 1 under the direction of Lt. Derrick Coppage.

“Attendees will be able to witness, firsthand, the efforts to safely extricate victims from an auto accident,” Coppage said.

He hopes that attendees will be reminded of the serious accident they witnessed before deciding to text while driving, saying, “If we can educate those who are attending on the possible outcome from a simple action such as replying to a text message, then we were successful with this event."

The event is also designed to be a fun family activity, and will feature entertainment from the local band Livin the Dream. Food and drinks will be also available on the premises from local restaurant Chuckwagon, Swirlies, Subway, Chick-Fil-A and Vorcellis Pizza.

Participants integral to the Safety Awareness Event include Nokesville Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Virginia State Police, Prince William County Police, Air Care 1 and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD.)

The Safety Awareness events team expressed their gratitude to Prince William County Public Schools for the use of their campus at Patriot High School.

“Holding this event in such a large area will assure us that we will have the space needed for landing the helicopter, AirCare1,” said event co-chair Mark Engman, “along with the space needed to safely respond to the mock vehicle accident.”

More information can be found at www.nvfdrs.org.