People across Kansas are sharing stories about lives saved, lost or affected forever due to a traffic crash during the annual Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day safety blog series.
In today’s blog HERE, traffic was moving slowly, and Caleb Locke thought it would be okay to pull a map up on his phone for directions.
“While I was accessing the map, I took my eyes off the road for less than three seconds. It was at this moment the whole line of cars in front of me had come close to a complete stop. But I was still going 50 miles an hour. As I saw my life flash before my eyes, I instantly dropped my phone, slammed on my brakes and prayed I would stop in time,” Locke said.
During his time at the Kansas Turnpike Authority, Jim Stauffer has seen a number of crashes involving wildlife, and recent KTA stats show 28% of single vehicle crashes are with an animal.
Stauffer shared an example of an incident where, “a driver on the Turnpike had a goose fly into their windshield,” he said. “It actually crashed into the car and out the back window.”
Denee Cupp’s daughter, Makenzee, died in a crash when a driver didn’t stop at the intersection of two highways in La Crosse.
“So many lives have been taken from families that are changed forever because someone was checking their phone. We want to prevent this heartbreak and devastation from happening to other families,” Cupp said.
These and other traffic-related experiences are being told in nine different blogs that begin today and run through Oct. 10, which is Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day. Whether you are in a vehicle, on a motorcycle or even walking, the campaign’s goal is for you to arrive safely every time.
To read safety blogs posted each day, go to KDOT’s blog page HERE.