The wrecked car in the front of the Ramey’s parking lot inMonticello has attracted some looks and some questions, and that’swhat emergency officials are trying to encourage as spring bringsprom time.

Members of the Lawrence County Fire and EMS Association,Monticello Police Department, the Lawrence County Sheriff’sDepartment, the Mississippi Highway Patrol, and the New HebronPolice and Fire Department gathered Friday afternoon to promotepublic awareness of drinking and driving, stressing the fact thatprom is on the way.

“Prom night is coming up, and we hope to avoid any Jaws of Liferuns or medical calls that night,” said Fire and EMS AssociationPresident Jared Evans. “We wanted to bring some public awareness tonot drinking and driving, and this was a good way to do it at thislate notice.”

Fire association members decided it would be a positive projectif they could unite with law enforcement to simply remind teens ofwhat can happen if they do drive and get behind the wheel of avehicle.

“Us and law enforcement work these wrecks together, so wethought we’d try to get together with them to get the word out,”Evans said.

Sheriff Joel Thames said he can’t remember a prom night fatalityduring his time with the sheriff’s office, but that doesn’t mean itcan’t happen.

“There have probably been four or five wrecks where teenagerswere driving under the influence and someone was killed in mytenure as sheriff,” he said. “I always tell people the worst partof my job is knocking on someone’s door at 2 a.m. to tell themtheir child has been killed in an accident.”

For that reason, Thames said, the display was put out. Emergencyvehicles were brought from several county departments, and officersand firefighters gathered by the road. One fire association membereven allowed himself to be the subject of a breathalyzerdemonstration.

And as for the vehicle, nobody is sure what the story behind itis, but it doesn’t look good for the driver, they said. It wasborrowed from a salvage yard and gets passed around for alcoholawareness, officials said.

And people have definitely been asking what happened, Evanssaid.

“A couple of people have called wanting to know what the deal iswith the wrecked car, and that’s kind of the point,” he said. “It’sright here across from Sonic, and if you’re a teenager in LawrenceCounty, you’re going to be there about once a day.”

And officials said fatal car accidents aren’t all that teensneed to be aware of if they’re going to be drinking and driving onprom night.

“We’re going to step up our traffic enforcement and be more onthe lookout for drunk drivers,” said Monticello Police Chief DavidStanley. “We’re trying to get these kids home safe, and make surethey have a safe prom night.”

Officials said they’re not trying to spoil anyone’s fun, butthey are working on keeping the streets clear and safe, andreminding teenagers that finding a designated driver is a lotbetter than being hurt or killed in an accident or arrested forDUI.

“If we even have one senior to see this and it impresses intheir mind the dangers of drinking and driving, it’s worth it all,”Thames said.