Graig MantleFacing the end of spring quarter and acknowledging students’ desires to party after finals, the University Police Department has placed the wreckage from a drunk driving accident at the eastern side of Dexter Lawn.
The smashed car, a BMW that now looks more like a Delorean, was involved in a drunk driving accident in which its passenger, a 21-year-old female Cuesta College student, and driver, a 27-year-old mother of two, were ejected from the vehicle and died, said Cheryl Andrus, University Police Department administrative assistant.
“This happened three days before Christmas in 2005,” university police officer James Ude said.
Dexter Lawn will host the car through Wednesday, “before everyone goes on break and starts partying,” Ude said. “We’re telling people to be careful during summer. DUI stats are higher during the summer.”
According to University Police, 36 percent of DUI arrests made by the department on and off campus in 2005 were made during summer. Last year, nearly a quarter of the total DUI arrests were during summer.
“That’s only a tiny percent of people who are caught. You know there are people out there who don’t get caught,” Ude said.
Nutrition senior Shakira Tietje was moved by the exhibit.
“One decision cost them their lives,” she said. “I guess it’s a wake-up call to the rest of us.”
Civil engineering sophomore Isaac DeHaro said, “It’s pretty scary. You think about it now, but when you’re out partying, you forget about it.”
“It scares me to be on the road,” recreation administration senior Jesse Olson said. She added that the anti-drunk driving message is relevant at Cal Poly because “it’s a small town and you can just get on the freeway . people think, ‘oh, I’ll be fine, it’s a short distance.”
Architectural engineering senior Bahman Ghassemzadeh said, “We all have friends who hop in the car no matter what.”
“It’s fine to go out and party and drink, just don’t drink and drive,” Ude said.
The smashed BMW was saved after the fatal accident by the San Luis Obispo County D.U.I. Task Force and is often displayed by various county agencies.