AUBURN -- Parents stare at the clock and worry about it late at night.

Students hear about it in the hallway -- some contribute to the problem.

Members of law enforcement are exposed to it over and over again.

All three perspectives on drunk driving gathered at the scene of a mock DWI accident at Auburn High School Monday night.

"Actually, my son is in it. He's a member of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions). Last year, he was the drunk driver. This year he is the victim," said Cindy Dudek, of Auburn. "I think everyone (in school) knows somebody who does (drink and drive). He doesn't hang with too many of those kids. But sometimes it's the other ones that cause the accidents, that come up on you, that are drinking. I don't know what the answer is. But I think this helps."

She was referring to the event, staged in the parking lot. Many student members of SADD, with frighteningly real acting, depicted the immediate aftermath of a post prom or graduation DWI accident involving two cars. One student, dressed in a tuxedo, stumbled from the driver's seat, beer cans falling out of the door, clattering as they rolled.

A girl lay semiconscious in front of the white car. Another sprawled across the front hood, the broken windshield at her feet. Blood appeared to flow from her head.

"Look what you did! What were you thinking?" screamed a third girl, while the driver made lopsided circles around the two cars. In the other, another fatality, the driver, with an injured front seat passenger, a back seat passenger would need to be removed by firefighters with the Jaws of Life.

With occasional narration over a loudspeaker, the tragedy unfolded, with the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office and the Fleming Fire Department, together with assistance from Owasco and Auburn, all with sirens wailing, arrived, conducting operations as they would at such a scene. Most audience members watched silently.

Auburn sophomore Lauren Elair said she's aware of teenagers drinking but doesn't know any who drive afterward. "They teach a lot about this in health class. No matter what, people are going to experiment. They have to learn by their mistakes, and they're going to make mistakes. But when it hits closer to home, like this, maybe they'll think twice."

Lt. James K. Langler, of the Sheriff's office has experienced similar scenario many times -- unfortunately in real life.

"It's pretty devastating," he said. "I've done that thing where you go and tell the parents. I can't imagine anything worse than that. We'll never know if this helps. How do you judge something like that? I wish there were more people here. Generally the ones that show up are the ones that wouldn't do it anyway."

Sheriff Rob Outhouse pointed out, just as in the scenario staged in the parking lot, such accidents often involve groups. "Graduation, prom time, or any special event that involves young people -- it's usually a group," he said. "We've all seen these accidents hundreds of times."

Erin Shurant, school counselor and SADD advisor, stood by, wishing more had attended the event.

"I think this is effective, but I'm always very disappointed in the poor turnout. Although I am happy to see the little kids here," she said. "It's extremely common. Underage drinking is a huge problem. One of the big problems is, a place like Auburn -- there's really nothing else to do. I just got the statistics from the coroner. Central New York has the highest rate of teenage accidents in the state of New York."

Shurant said one thing that might help is keeping younger drivers off the road altogether. She would like the age requirement for driver's licenses raised to 18.