Students hear the dangers of drunk driving with proms around the corner
HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP — About 1,100 high school students from four counties gathered to hear about the importance of safe, sober driving Monday morning at SPIRE Academy.
Students from more than a dozen schools from Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga and Trumbull counties attended the event.
The concerted effort to discuss the importance of safe driving was put together by the school districts, law enforcement agencies and Ohio Safe Communities. Ohio Safe Communities Coordinator Sandy Pulsifer said she has been hoping to create a one-site event for many years, and believes it can provide a more powerful message with multiple speakers.
Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Steven Murphy led off the event, saying it was easier to bring everybody to one place than to conduct mock crashes and host speakers at each high school.
The Ashtabula County Board of Commissioners provided money for the event from the county's American Rescue Plan Act funds to make the event a reality for the next four years.
'I think it is good for the kids to have some real-world [stories],' Commissioner J.P. Ducro said.
Ashtabula Area City Schools Resource Officer Katie Brockway said 75 students came from the district. She said it is important for the students to hear stories that involve great loss and tragedy because of seemingly one-time bad decisions.
She said if even 10 of the students get the message, it might save a life.
Representatives of the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Geneva Police Department were a big part of the event, as well as Channel 19 television personality Caitlin McCarthy, who emceed the event.
'We challenge you to take what you learn today and become a safe driving advocate' McCarthy said.
One of the speakers provided a heartfelt and painful discussion of how his decision to drink and drive completely changed not only his life, but many others.
Brian Rosenburg, a 2010 graduate of Jefferson High School, painted a picture with words of his childhood and high school development with the help of his parents.
He said he had all of the positive aspects of growing up with opportunities and took advantage of them, earning a 3.8 grade point average and taking honors classes. He earned a scholarship to the University of Toledo.
Rosenburg said he made the promise not to drink and drive in high school, did not party very much in high school or college, and viewed mock crash events at his school.
What he did not have was a story that detailed how easily things can go off the rails with one bad decision.
'Nobody told me what happens after the crash,' Rosenburg said.
Rosenburg was in his final days as a student at the University of Toledo and had a dream job locked up in the city of Detroit.
'We started that day with one bad decision, and it escalated,' Rosenburg said of his decision to leave work and grab a drink, then get behind the wheel of a car.
Rosenburg said he found out later he had driven 60 miles per hour into two vehicles, then all three struck another two in an intersection.
When he woke up in a hospital room three days later, following a medically induced come, he found out he had caused the crash and could potentially be charged with vehicular assault and face a one to three year prison sentence.
Within a month, that bad news escalated when one of the crash victims died leaving two children behind. The charges moved to vehicular homicide, with a potential five to 13 year prison sentence.
Rosenburg said he was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the crash in August 2014, and later hit with a $1.3 million wrongful death lawsuit. He told students of the challenges he faced in prison, as he was housed with murderers and rapists.
The students heard a variety of speakers and organizers said they thought the multiple speakers has a larger effect on the students.
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