Local News - Mullica Township parents say lack of sleep led to crash after graduation event
It wasn’t until the air bag hit Billy Cheatham in the nose that he realized he had fallen asleep at the wheel of his Jeep and hit a utility pole.
Cheatham had stayed up all night following his June 17 graduation from Oakcrest High School. He had spent the night at....Continue Reading
a Project Graduation celebration — an event designed to give graduates an alternative to drinking — at the Hess School in Mays Landing. He knew he felt tired as he drove home to the Sweetwater section of Mullica Township.
“I woke up with the air bag in my face and thought, ‘Uh oh. This isn’t good,’” Cheatham, 18, said Wednesday.
Cheatham came away from the accident with a bloody nose, some painful bumps and bruises, and a totaled Jeep. Now he and his parents want to raise awareness that students do not sleep at these events. While the events relieve parents of the fear their children are out drinking and driving, they should think twice about letting their children drive home after having possibly been awake for 24 hours straight.
“We don’t blame anyone,” said Billy’s mother, Hope. “But after the accident, and at the hospital, people were saying they worry about this, so we just want to raise awareness.”
“Project Graduation” is a nationwide event designed to give high school graduates a safe, fun way to celebrate free of drugs and alcohol. The events began in the 1980s in response to concerns about teenage drinking and driving and were supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Traditionally hosted by school or parent groups, the events start at about 10 p.m. on the night of graduation and end at about 5 a.m. the next morning; the events typically include games and door prizes. In 1991, the Centers for Disease Control cited Project Graduation as one factor in raising awareness of teen drinking and helping to lower alcohol-related traffic fatalities.
But a 2000 study found that after 17 to 19 hours without sleep, performance on tested tasks was equivalent or worse than a 0.05 percent blood-alcohol level. After longer periods as long as 28 hours without sleep, performance levels were the same as a blood-alcohol level of 0.10 percent. In New Jersey, a person is considered legally drunk with a blood-alcohol content higher than 0.08 percent.
Several area high schools, including Egg Harbor Township, Vineland, Lacey Township and Buena Regional, have Project Graduations planned for today or Friday. Some are held at district schools, others off-site.
Buena Regional will bus students from the high school to the Hess School in Mays Landing tonight, and return them by bus to the high school Friday morning. Diane Myers, who with her family has coordinated the Buena Regional celebration for 17 years, said they advise parents to come pick up their children at the high school in the morning.
“But that doesn’t always happen,” she said. “We do what we can to keep them safe.”
Hope Cheatham said her husband, Bill, who serves on the Greater Egg Harbor Regional School Board, had asked her how Billy was getting home from the event, and asked whether it would be safe. She said he was going to drive and would probably have friends with him.
“I just didn’t think it would be a problem,” she said, admitting she naively thought he might take a nap if he got tired.
“I even packed him a pillow and blanket so he could sleep for a couple of hours,” she said. “He just laughed when I gave it to him.”
Billy said the event was too much fun to consider sleeping. There is a pool at Hess, and there were drawings for cool prizes.
“It was a really good time,” he said. “You know it’s the last time you’ll be hanging out with your classmates.”
He had gotten up at 6 a.m. for school, been outside in the heat for graduation practice, then attended graduation before heading out to the event. At 5 a.m. the next morning, when he left the Hess School with a group of friends on a car caravan home, he thought he was fine.
But as he began driving, the tiredness set in. He said he had the Jeep windows open, blasted the air conditioning, and figured with only 10 or 15 minutes to go, he’d make it.
The accident happened in Egg Harbor City, about 10 minutes from home. Friends saw the Jeep weave, then veer off the road, hit the pole, and roll over. Instead of going home, Cheatham went to the hospital with his family.
Billy Cheatham said he thinks school officials should consider requiring parents to pick up their children. He also said graduates shouldn’t be afraid to call for a ride home or stop by side of the road to sleep if they are tired. He said even having a friend in the car with him might have helped him stay awake.
Hope Cheatham said she also worries that some students don’t go straight home, but head to the beach, all driving while tired.
GEHR superintendent Steven Cicciarello said the district would review the process. But, he said, the event is popular because it is a safe celebration for students.
“It would be great to have a rule requiring parents to pick up their students,” he said. “But would that impact on students whose parents couldn’t come get them? This has been a safe event, and I think there have been fewer problems with it than without it.”
Hope Cheatham said she is grateful her son is safe and just wants all parents to consider the effect lack of sleep may have on their children.
“If he had been killed, we’d never have been able to live with ourselves,” she said.
Contact Diane D'Amico: 609-272-7241 DDamico@pressofac.com
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