Just in time for prom, members of law enforcement, the judicial system and rescue personnel educated Anson High School students about the dangers of drunk driving and other risky decisions.

The presentation began with speakers and ended with a mock crash scene, complete with emergency response. The speakers focused on the consequences of teens' actions.

Chris McGrath, an EMT and registered nurse for UNC Air Care, said studies show teenagers who understand there could be negative repercussions for their behavior are less likely to make these risky decisions. He is conducting a study by survey on the high school students he speaks to in order to verify these conclusions.

He said more teens die in North Carolina in automobile wrecks than 44 other states. In the last four years, 630 teenagers have died as a result of a wreck in the state.

North Carolina State Trooper Mark Helms stressed the dangers of texting while driving as well.

Even when teens are not texting, talking on a cell phone has a similar effect on reaction times to drinking alcohol.

"If you die this year, statistically it will be in a car crash," he told the students. From the age of 15 to 27, automobile wrecks are the number one cause of death.

A driver with a .15 BAC, almost twice the legal limit of .08, is 300 times as likely to be in a wreck. He said in 40 percent of wrecks where there is a fatality, one of the parties was impaired.

Since 2003, three teenagers have died in car crashes in Anson, McGrath said.

"If you make a stupid decision, you will never realize what you want in life," he said. He gave the example of two N.C. teens who drove their four-wheelers into each other in a game of chicken. One was killed, the other is bed-ridden years later.

Drunk driving could be considered an epidemic. Flip a coin. There is a 54 percent chance that a teenager in a car crash was impaired.

Sometimes, the speakers used more shocking methods than statistics to reach the audience.

"When you're in a car wreck, help is not instantaneous," McGrath said. The average response time is three minutes, followed by the time it takes responders to cut victims free of wreckage and get them to the hospital. Cutting a victim free could take over an hour.

He closed with a personal story.

A few years ago, he responded to a scene to find his brother dead. His brother had left a party on a motorcycle, drunk.

"If you or a friend die, an officer will have to go to the house to tell your parents," he said. He had to make the call to his parents himself.

Drivers who survive will still suffer from the guilt, even if they escape the judicial system. "If you kill your friend, that never goes away," he said.

District Attorney Michael Parker was the final speaker.

"If you drink and drive and kill somebody, I'm going to try my best to convict you," he said.

But friends shouldn't let friends drive drunk, he pointed out. "Death doesn't care if you were the one at fault or if you weren't," he said.

Parker also shared a personal story. From the time he was 13 until he was 18, he was a member of the rescue squad. In that time, five people died in his arms.

After the speakers finished, students filed outside to the practice football field. Two cars were set up as if a head-on collision had occurred. Students playing victims were inside and outside of the cars.

After a 911 tape was played, minutes passed before emergency officials arrived. The long process of stabilizing and freeing the victims began.

One driver was given a sobriety test and placed in handcuffs. A UNC Air Care helicopter arrived on the scene to take a crash dummy away.

Sheets were placed over some of the bodies while others were placed on stretchers and in ambulances.