The incident was aimed at highlighting the dangers of drinking and driving.
It was a grisly scene in which emergency services worked to free five girls from a smashed-up Mitsubishi, using the jaws of life.
About a third of the school's pupils were alerted to the mock crash during their lunchbreak by police, fire and ambulance sirens.
Bayfield High School assistant principal Caroline Doole said the incident was planned by members of the school's Students Against Driving Drunk (Sadd) committee, but no other pupils were aware of the planned accident until it happened.
"This was a complete surprise for the school. The initial impact was quite big.
"The idea was that if we used their own peers to play the drunk driver and victims in the crash, it would have more of an impact on the students," she said.
A single beer bottle rolled out of the car as the doors and roof were cut off.
Many pupils watching became uneasy as a white sheet was placed over a well-known pupil at the school, Audrey Morgan (17), who played the role of the front-seat passenger who was killed instantly.
Bayfield High School pupil Patrick Lepine (17) said he had a restricted licence and the exercise had taught him and his friends a very graphic and memorable lesson.
"It was pretty eye-opening to see what one crash can do.
"When you see accidents on the news, it's censored. But when you see it like this, it really hits home how graphic it is.
"It's taught me drinking and driving don't mix."
Audrey and the four other Sadd committee pupils who played roles in the accident, Emily Robertson (16), Katie Willis (17), Alex Bradley (17) and Abby Te Kawa (17), will follow up yesterday's exercise by remaining silent tomorrow for the entire school day.
Katie said it was designed to show their fellow pupils what it would be like if they had all died in the crash and they were no longer around to talk to.
