A South Dakota sheriff's department is using a new method to combat drinking and driving.
Friday, just in time for President's Day weekend, the Faulk County Sheriff's Department put a totaled truck on display.
It was involved in a drunk-driving accident that nearly claimed the lives of two former students.
"The truck that you can see behind me was involved in a near fatal accident here in Faulk County. And now the sheriffs department and the school are trying to use the totaled truck as a lesson for kids not to drink and drive. They're lucky it wasn't a fatality," said Chief Deputy Brent Koens.
The blood-stained airbag in the truck is a visual reminder of the damage drinking and driving can cause.
The mangled F-150 was involved in a serious crash involving two underage people who were hurt in the accident.
"If the youth, other youth and adults are conducting activities where they're drinking alcohol and their driving. When there not in the condition to be doing so, they could just as well put their own name in the drivers/passengers name, because it could have very well easily have happened to them," said Deputy Koens.
The question "do you drink alcohol and drive" is inked on a poster board on the drivers side door of the truck.
And after seeing the mangled mess students had plenty to say about the effectiveness of the display.
"Seeing like the twisted metal and the side of the pickup that's just totally collapsed in where our friend was sitting is totally an eye opener, it's scary," said student Kyle Ortmeier.
"They teach us not to drink and drive in school. But when you actually see something like that and you can go up close and actually look inside the pickup, it definitely taught a lot more lessons than it would have just being taught about it in school," said student Cortney Hardie.
A lesson that students and people in Faulk County are trying to teach to stop people from drinking and driving.
The driver of the wrecked vehicle supported the sheriff's department and school using it as a teaching tool.
It will be displayed through Saturday.
