Tired of hearing about San Benito County’s young people being
killed or injured because they got behind the wheel after drinking
or rode with a drunk driver, a San Juan Bautista resident set out
to create a documentary showing the often tragic consequences of
drinking and driving.
Hollister – Tired of hearing about San Benito County’s young people being killed or injured because they got behind the wheel after drinking or rode with a drunk driver, a San Juan Bautista resident set out to create a documentary showing the often tragic consequences of drinking and driving.
“We wanted to take hard-edged and honest approach to the causes and consequences of driving under the influence,” said Jennifer Roybal-Marquez, president of SealRock Marketing, which is producing the documentary “Under the Influence and Under 21” expected to be released this fall. SealRock will donate the $100,000 film to San Benito County to use in safety campaigns.
“We hope that underage drivers have the opportunity to see this in their classrooms,” she said.
“Since we are focusing on cause and consequence, young people will be able to see how their family will be affected and how they will be affected if they drive under the influence,” she said.
Since 2002 there have been 138 DUI-related car accidents in San Benito County, which have killed eight people and injured 73, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Armstrong.
Among those fatalities is Adam Baxter, a San Benito High School graduate who was killed in January just days before his 21st birthday when the car being driven by his friend crashed into a ditch and Baxter was thrown through the windshield. And in 2003 Matt Lopez and P.J. Galvan, both 18-year-old SBHS graduates, were killed when the car they were passengers in overturned. The driver of the car had been drinking.
Several San Benito County officials helped throughout the making of the documentary, Roybal-Marquez said, allowing the filmmakers to ride along with law enforcement officers and giving them access to the county morgue. Also, the families of Lopez and Galvan appear in the film and talk about how the deaths of their loved ones affected their families.
While the documentary may be difficult for people to watch – the parents of Lopez and Galvan recount finding out that their sons were dead, and there are scenes of a bodybag being zipped up at the county morgue – Roybal-Marquez hopes that the stark reality of the film will give young people and their parents a chance to see the often tragic consequences of driving drunk and make the decision not to drink and drive.
Sheriff Curtis Hill, who said that underage drinking is a widespread problem in the county, was eager to work with Roybal-Marquez.
“After that last one with Adam Baxter – that tore it,” he said.
But it is not just young people who need to be reached, Hill said. There needs to be a change in the culture and a change within parents so that drinking is no longer considered a rite of passage. Often, he said, parents will hold parties where they allow underage people to drink.
“There’s death associated with this rite of passage,” he said.
Luke Roney covers politics and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
