A session to teach Warren County High School students about the dangers of impaired drivers received a cold splash of reality Friday when pictures of the wreck that took the life of a Caitlin Talley were shown.
Talley, a 17-year-old WCHS student, died in October 2012 when the Chevy Z71 she was a backseat passenger in left the roadway, struck several trees and flipped. She was thrown from the vehicle.
“I have had several conversations with Caitlin’s mother,” said McMinnville Police Lt. Mark Mara, who is instructor of the class. “She was supposed to be with us today, but she decided this morning she just couldn’t do it. It would be too emotional. I can only imagine that it would be.”
According to Mara, Talley went to a friend’s house and individuals there were partaking in beer pong and marijuana and snorting Xanax.
“Caitlin was a sweet girl,” he said. “She made one bad decision that night. When her father called telling her that she needed to get home, she didn’t tell him what was going on. Instead, she started looking for someone to take her home and got into a vehicle with an impaired driver. That decision took her life.”
Pictures of the vehicle and specifics of the incident were provided by Tennessee Highway Patrol officer Rodney Whiles, who says the driver, Cory Tate, 22, had all three substances in his system – alcohol, marijuana and Xanax – and was traveling 97 mph in a 55 mph zone when the wreck happened.
As the pictures of the wreckage were shown on the screen one-by-one, Whiles encouraged students to consider their own safety and what could happen at the hands of an impaired driver.
“If you are in a situation like this and you need to get home, tell your parents what’s going on,” said Whiles. “Or, you can call us. We will gladly make sure you get home safe. It’s the hardest part of my job to knock on a door at 2, 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning and inform parents that their child is dead. I would rather not have to do that.”
In August 2012, Tate pled guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and DUI. He was sentenced to serve 260 days of an eight-year sentence, perform 100 hours of public service work, fined $1,000 plus court costs, ordered to make monetary restitution to the victim’s family, undergo drug and alcohol assessment and lose his license for one year.
Mara offers Fatal Vision classes at the school in the hopes of discouraging students from driving impaired, or getting into a vehicle with someone who is driving impaired.
The class could also offer a splash of reality for some parents who think their child would never make the same decision as Talley. When Mara asked students to close their eyes and questioned them about which ones have ever gotten into a vehicle with an obviously impaired driver, numerous students raised their hands to indicate they had done that.
Then, Mara asked if any of the students knew a bad driver, someone who’s driving behavior could endanger the lives of passengers, but they continue to ride with that person. More than a dozen students raised their hands.
In order for students to understand the dangers of those actions, Mara had volunteers wear Fatal Vision Goggles which give the same visual impairment as being legally intoxicated. The volunteers were asked to perform tasks that would have been easy before putting on the goggles, such as picking up items, walking a straight line, or riding a tricycle.
Mara says this portion of the class is meant to be fun, but educational.
Talley’s mother provided pictures of her daughter’s childhood, teenage years and funeral that were shown after the wreck photos.