Three lives lost because of not wearing seat belts

By Kay Hendrix

Kay Hendrix and her son.

It was November 27, 2002, during Thanksgiving weekend. I was seven months pregnant with my son, and I lost a very dear friend. Not only did I lose her, but we also lost her mother and her middle son. All of them perished while traveling to Phoenix, AZ, to visit her youngest son. 

While still in Kansas, they failed to stop at an intersection and were hit by an anhydrous ammonia truck and never made it out of the state. All three were gone so suddenly, breaking my heart and our close-knit community into a billion pieces. She was the closest thing that I had to an older sister, she was a great listener and a wonderful friend that I still miss dearly to this day.

The accident cost all three of them their lives, because none of them were wearing their seat belts. The crash threw all them from the vehicle and mangled their bodies to the point that they were unrecognizable, resulting in closed casket funerals. 

When the family found out, they were afraid of telling me … I was so far along in an already touchy pregnancy, they thought that I might lose the baby. I don’t honestly remember a lot about the days that followed other than the great sense of loss and sadness that I felt. 

The following weeks were a blur, but then my son arrived, which brought another round of sadness. She wasn’t there to celebrate his birth, listen to my concerns or even guide me through being a first-time mother. In the months that followed, I realized that I felt her presence with me every day…especially every time I got into the car. I was almost able to hear her say, “put your seat belt on, didn’t you learn from me?”

It is because of that accident and the loss of her and her family that pushed me into the work I do. I believe very strongly that promoting safety in the motor vehicle industry allows me to reach people and hopefully make a difference. 

If one more person understands how important safety on the highways is, that is one more person making it home to their family and friends. One more person that doesn’t have to feel the heartache of losing someone so tragically. 

Kay Hendrix is the Director of Safety for the Kansas Motor Carriers Association.

  

Emergency responders need your attention

By Jamie Reimer

Jamie Reimer

During my 10-plus years at KDOT, I’ve seen a lot of close calls where one of our workers has almost been hit. I’ve also seen a number of close calls as a longtime volunteer fireman and emergency medical responder in my community.

Too many times when we’re directing traffic around a crash scene, I see drivers spending more time rubbernecking at the vehicles involved and what the emergency workers are doing than paying attention to the road. I’ve had to push people out of the way of an oncoming driver who didn’t see them because they were distracted by what was going on. Emergency workers always have to be looking over their shoulders constantly because you just never know what people are going to do.

I can remember one incident where a driver passing by the scene was driving entirely too fast. Luckily, law enforcement was able to pull them over. I’m pretty sure there was a ticket written that day.

It’s always challenging when we work crashes on dirt roads. Traffic usually must be stopped for the safety of the emergency responders because cars coming through and kicking up dust makes it really hard to see us. Wrecks in places where we can’t park close to the scene and have to move back and forth across the road are also difficult. If possible, we always try to park on the same side as the scene. But if we can’t, we’re constantly watching for passing traffic, especially when moving the patient from the scene to the ambulance.

The next time you come up on a crash scene, I hope you will do your part to help keep emergency workers and first responders safe. Slow down, pay attention and move over. Lives depend on it.

 

Jamie Reimer is an Equipment Operator Senior with KDOT in Phillipsburg.

 

No time to react in a crash

By Howard Reece

On a grey, overcast August morning a few years ago as I was traveling to work at dawn I was surprised when, from out of nowhere, a deer suddenly appeared in front of my car, slightly to the right side. My instant reaction was to swerve to my left to try to miss the deer. I understand that the appropriate reaction when confronting an animal on the road is to slow down and stay in my lane, but I swerved nonetheless. As quick as I swerved, the passenger side window on my car exploded getting glass all over the interior of my car. 

Traveling 55 mph, this all happened faster than you can say “deer/swerve/boom (window exploding),” because it did happen that fast.  I immediately pulled over to assess the damages.  I apparently hit the deer with my right-side rearview mirror when I swerved, breaking it off and slamming the mirror into the passenger side window, causing the window to explode.  The mirror was dangling from the door by the electrical wires which were still attached to both. 

The deer apparently survived because I never did see it again, and I did look for it.  I’m certain that the mirror hit the deer in the head because it was facing that direction when I saw it in front of my car, and it would not have had time to change course.

I always wear my seat belt, so that was not an issue in this instance, nor was it needed to keep me restrained.  But this story makes me think of how fast things can happen on the highway and of another time on Oct.  23, 2007, when a situation occurred as fast, if not faster, and much more harrowing.

On this day at 1:45 p.m., I was southbound on K-232 about one mile west of the Wilson Lake dam.  The highway curves back to the east here and goes over the dam.  At this point also is the intersection of Russell County Road # 203, which comes up from the south and hooks into K-232, mid-curve.  It was a beautiful, bright, clear fall afternoon and was a very pleasant ride. 

Suddenly, an on-coming pickup pulling a trailer, both loaded with sandblasting and painting equipment and materials is turning right in front of me to go south on the county road.  The operator of the pickup was in the business of painting water towers for rural water districts and was looking back to the south at the road he was getting ready to go down. 

This time there was no time to react.  I was driving 65 mph and I do clearly remember choosing to close my eyes (because I did not want to see what was about to happen) and attempting to hit the brake pedal which was more of a reactionary act, but an act of futility none-the-less.  I cannot express accurately just how quickly this occurred.  There was no time to swerve!

After the dust had settled, I found myself sitting in my little state-owned SUV, all in one piece, and very much alive.  After a few seconds of collecting my thoughts I picked up my cell phone and called the KHP Dispatch, who I had programmed into my phone and told them what had just happened.  I then got out to survey the situation. 

The right front quarter panel of my vehicle impacted the pickup on its right rear quarter panel, separating the pickup from the trailer and spinning the pickup three quarters of a turn, with all of it ending up off the highway.  From what I can determine, that was the “softest” spot I could have impacted.  If I would have hit the front corner of the pickup or the front corner of the trailer it would have been a different story.  As heavy as the three-quarter ton pickup and trailer were, along with all of the weight of the supplies on-board, it’s amazing to think of how bad it could have been.

The airbag deployed in my SUV, but the only contact I had with it was on the inside of my forearms from where I was holding the steering wheel at the 3:00/9:00 position.  I could tell this by the small grid-like woven red marks on my forearms.

The hand of a Mighty God and my seat belt kept me firmly in my seat.  Thus, I am here to share this story with you today.  And, I suggest you never go anywhere without your seat belt on either.

Howard Reece is a Highway Maintenance Superintendent at the Salina KDOT office.

 

The choice to drink and drive ended two young lives

This blog was shared during the 2016 Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day safety blog series and is being shared again this year.

By Barby Jobe Myers 

Kyle and Kylie.

My friends often say, “you’re so strong,” but that’s a choice for me.  They aren’t with me when I drive to and from work and that special song comes on the radio. My throat tightens up and the tears stream from my eyes and all I can think about is her. 

They aren’t with me when I wake up on her birthday each December, so close to Christmas, and we’re supposed to celebrate. They aren’t with me to understand how much my heart aches when I watch my two sons score touchdowns or goals or go to state and I know how much they miss her cheers and words of encouragement, and most of all her advice. 

They are not with me when all her friends graduate from college and her name is in glitter on their caps. They aren’t with me when her best friends get married and she is recognized as their maid of honor, but she isn’t there. There’s that same feeling of my throat tightening, threatening to suffocate me and I’m not feeling very strong. They aren’t with me when I’m driving on a highway, any highway, late at night and it’s all I can do to shake the horrible images that keep flowing into my head. 

They aren’t with me when I think it took just one person. One person who made a choice. One person who chose to drink. One person who chose to drink a lot. One person who then chose to get behind the wheel of his car. One person to enter the highway going 90 mph heading west towards Colorado on the eastbound entrance ramp. 

They weren’t with me when I got the call. They weren’t with me when I had to call my dentist so we could confirm it was my baby girl. I don’t feel so strong. One person killed two precious young lives. Both lives, full of love and light, were put out by just one person who chose to drink and drive. 

Life is full of choices, please choose wisely. Drink responsibly. Select a driver, call a cab, call Uber, call your mom. Please don’t drink and drive. You can’t take it back.

Kylie and her brothers.

I wish you could’ve met my daughter, Kylie Brooke Jobe, and her boyfriend, Kyle Thornburg. Kylie was a 20-year-old sophomore at Oklahoma State University and her boyfriend, Kyle, was 22 and attended Wichita State University. Both were from Wichita, were high school sweethearts and had both attended Maize High School. We had just spent a fabulous spring break skiing together in Colorado. On their way home, they became the innocent victims of a drunk driver. They were killed in an instant, at mile marker 211, on I-70, when a 27-year-old man entered the Interstate going in the wrong direction. He had a blood alcohol level of .23 – almost three times the legal limit. 

Kylie was the light of my life, my best friend, beautiful and full of life. There are no words to describe the hole in my heart that can never be filled.

 Barby Jobe Myers, Mother of Kylie Jobe – Born, Dec. 20, 1990 – Killed, March 23, 2011

The lives of Kylie and Kyle are honored each March at Run2Believe, a 5K race, held at Maize High School. Race proceeds are used to raise awareness in high schools about the dangers of drinking and driving and to support scholarships in their honor.    

 

Roll-over crash survivor - seat belts work!

By Brenda Granger

On the afternoon of April 28, 2015, I was driving on U.S. Highway 160 in Elk County, a route that I drove frequently.

It was a beautiful spring day. Due to a neurological disorder that causes weak muscles, I use the cruise control as much as possible. Having driven that route countless times (in other cars), I set my cruise control for 60 mph (the speed limit being 55 mph).

In the other vehicles, I could take that curve at 60 mph, and stay in my lane.  I’d only owned this car a few months and hadn’t learned that it didn’t handle curves quite as well.  As I was going around a curve that I later learned was called “Dead Man’s Curve” by the locals, I began to realize that the car wasn’t going where I wanted it.  If I had been able to cut the curve short – by driving a straight line that would have taken me into the opposite lane, I probably could have made it.  But there was a small pickup coming towards me, and if I did that, I would have a head-on collision with it. 

As soon as it passed, I slammed on my brakes. I found that my driving techniques learned on rear-wheel drive cars don’t work the same on a front-wheel drive car - the front wheels immediately slowed down, but the rear wheels didn’t. I was driving east, and suddenly, the car was facing west and sliding across the road. Once a couple of wheels dropped in the shallow ditch, then the centrifugal force began to roll the car.  We went for several rotations before landing in a bean field.

I later found out that the first responders guessed three to four times, both side-to-side and end-to-end, from counting the impacts in the field I landed in and the condition of the car. I had my seat belt on, and was awake the whole time, holding onto the steering wheel for dear life. Although, you know, it really doesn’t do much good when the wheels aren’t touching the ground, to continue holding the steering wheel. 

While I like roller coaster rides, this was more like riding inside the dryer.  I saw the world turning through the front windshield, while objects in my vehicle flew all around (and into) me. 

Thankfully, I landed wheels down, and the weather was very pleasant even without the missing windows, while I pondered what to do next.  The other driver had noticed in their rearview mirror that I had trouble and turned around.  I saw them driving slowly on the side road, so I stuck my hand out the missing driver’s window and waved.  Figured that would let them know that I was alive and conscious.  They called 911, and the first responders started appearing quickly.

The Elk County first responders were very helpful – they even collected all the objects that flew out of my car, including my cell phone!  One of the guys called my home, to let my family know what happened.  He had to leave a message on the answering machine, but within seconds of getting my cell phone back in my hand, my son was calling me to find out the details.

A woman talked with me, prayed with me and helped me find something to catch the blood that was dripping out of my hand. We had to wait a while for the Jaws of Life to arrive - they had to cut the door off to get me out.

The ambulance transported me to the nearest emergency room, which was in Independence. Because the initial CT showed an air bubble between my lung and air sac, it was determined I needed to be transported to a hospital with a trauma department. I convinced them to transport me to Wichita, where most of my doctors are located.

In addition to fractured ribs, I cut my right-hand tendon partially, which required stitches to close the skin. I got whiplash, a few bumps, bruises and hair ripped out on my head, but on Thursday, I was released from the hospital.  The next morning, I gathered up my courage, got behind the wheel of one of the other cars, and drove myself to the hand specialist. I went back to work on Monday.

Considering the way everything I was transporting flew out of the vehicle, if I hadn’t had my seat belt on, the outcome would have been much worse.  I have no idea why the air bags didn’t deploy, but it was only God and the seat belt protecting me.  No brain injury, no major surgery and the only physical therapy I had to have was due to the hand injury and whiplash. 

While I’ve had the only rollover car accident in our family, my husband and sons have had accidents at highway speed.  Each time, we had our seat belts on, and they’ve never had more than scratches and bruises.  We are thankful that we wear our seat belts in this family!

Brenda Granger is a Butler County resident who survived a rollover crash in 2015.

The helmet cracked, but the skull didn’t

Don Drickey (left) and his wife Jeanne.

By Don Drickey

After retirement from the KDOT Salina District office, my wife, Jeanne, and I moved to Dumas, Texas, to help with her mother-in–law who lived in the Oklahoma panhandle. I worked for the Texas Department of Transportation for a couple of years and retired again.

One of the things that was good about living in the flat plains of the Texas Panhandle was the availability of good bicycle routes to ride with good, wide shoulders to avoid oil field traffic. 

Jeanne and I came back and completed the Bike Across Kansas for five years in a row from 2010-2014. In order to keep in shape for the next year’s ride, it was necessary to ride occasionally during the off-season.  

One fine Dec. 17, 2010, we decided to ride a quick 16-mile route out and back into Dumas. The route passed by a farm where I had been playing “tag” with the farmer’s dog.  I would increase my speed as we passed by the farm and I was probably doing 18-20 mph as he lay in wait in the roadside ditch. He would run alongside of me, never crossing in front. This day he decided to change tactics.

I remember thinking, “oh crap,” or something similar as he crossed in front of me.

I flipped over the handlebars and impacted the pavement headfirst. Jeanne was behind me and narrowly avoided the pileup.

I rolled over, sat up and tried to assess the damage. Arms, legs, hips and ribs seemed intact. I found that I could not stand upright, as the pain was too great. By this time, a son of a Dumas acquaintance had stopped and offered assistance and took us to the local hospital emergency room.  X-rays showed that I had a broken pelvis and a separated shoulder. Of course, there was lots of pavement rash on knees, elbows, chin, etc. 

My bike helmet was cracked and there was no doubt that the injuries could have resulted in a skull fracture or worse. My expensive bike and the dog were fine!

After a couple of nights spent the hospital checking for brain injury and a period of healing and rehab on my hip and shoulder, we were back riding after six weeks.

Lesson here: Never get on your bicycle without a good helmet, even for a ride around the block.

Don Drickey retired as the KDOT north central District Engineer in 2007.

Texting/driving and no seat beat – a deadly combination

By Linda Isaac

Always a happy guy! My son, Chad Stacy, had a smile that never faded and the joy for life that he carried went with him everywhere he went.  Chad was a father of two beautiful girls. He was a wonderful big brother and the most loving son that a mother could ask for.

Chad was also a Marine, having done two tours in Iraq. He loved the outdoors, especially fishing with his dad and brother. He loved all sports and was always outside with the kids whenever family got together.  He loved people - everyone was his buddy!

On January 5, 2017, Chad made the bad choice to text and drive. It was dark outside, and he was living in a new area when he ran a stop sign. He hit another truck and caused both of them to flip over. The other driver got out of his car without any injuries.

Chad's car was pretty smashed up, except for the driver’s seat. The officers said Chad probably could have survived the accident, but he did not have his seat belt on. He was thrown from his vehicle and died at the scene.

We miss Chad so much every day.  I can't stress enough how dangerous texting driving is and the huge importance of wearing a seat belt. It would have saved Chad's life.

Please always drive safe and buckle up so that your family never has to see a patrol car pull up in their driveway and officers get out of the car, remove their hats and walk to your door. News like this is such a shock and so hard on the families, but it’s also very difficult for the first responders and police officers. 

I like to end on a positive note and tell people that one of the great choices Chad made years before this was to be an organ, eye and tissue donor. In his death, many others have been helped.

PLEASE put your phone down while driving, buckle up and register to be an organ donor. #MidwestTransplant 

Linda Isaac is the mother of Chad and lives in Olathe.

Lives are on the line in work zones

Kerry Bramhall, third from left, and his family.

My name is Kerry Bramhall and I am the District One, Area One Office Coordinator at the Horton KDOT office in northeast Kansas. I have worked at KDOT for 19 years, three of which I was a traveling Survey Technician on a statewide survey crew. I have had several close calls during my time at KDOT.

The first close call I remember quite well. We were surveying some section corners north of Parsons. We had our signs out, and two flaggers flagging traffic in a long, flat and well-visible area. I was in the middle of the road holding a range pole on a section corner while my co-worker was getting readings from it. I saw a semi coming toward me with a line of traffic behind him.

As he approached, the semi behind him proceeded to pass in the work zone, leaving me squeezed between the two trucks. The passing semi’s mirror hit my hand taking the range pole with it. I watched as the range pole went flying ahead, thinking that could have been me.

The worst of my fears came in September of 2007. I was doing paperwork in our office in Seneca when my Construction Engineer, Kevin Palic, came out and said, “Get in the car we are going to Lawrence,” in a panicked voice. As I got in the car, Kevin told me that one of my co-workers who had been doing a project in Lawrence had been hit by a reckless driver. We drove as fast as we could to get there.

As we arrived, we found out that he did not make it. I volunteered to drive my other co-worker home who was with him at the time of the accident. The whole trip home we talked about what a great guy and friend our co-worker was. All that I could think about was if the traveling public only knew how much that hurt to lose a buddy, they might be more aware in work zones.

One of my other duties here at KDOT is plowing snow in the winter months. I have had several close calls with the snowplow truck. This last year, I was plowing snow at night in what I would call a blizzard. Visibility was next to nothing. As I was plowing, a car proceeded to pass me as I’m sure they thought I was not going fast enough, and they were in a hurry.

When the car got past me, I could barely see the taillights as they spun around in front of my snowplow blade and ended up in the ditch. All I could think was I could have hit them, or they could have hit me.

If you are reading this, please slow down and pay attention to your surroundings in a work zone or behind a snowplow, because at the end of the day we would like to go home to our families just like you do.



Working together leads to safe travel

Col. Herman T. Jones

By Colonel Herman T. Jones

At the Kansas Highway Patrol, one of our top priorities is to reduce the number and severity of traffic crashes from impaired driving across the state of Kansas. Through our traffic enforcements and partnerships with statewide organizations, agencies and activities, we are dedicated to keeping our highways and roadways safe. With our selective enforcements and public service announcements reminding drivers to move over and slow down for highway and roadway officials, drive alert, drive sober, and buckle up, we can significantly reduce fatal crashes.

Keep these enforcements in mind while you travel to your next destination:

While you are driving, put away your phones and other distractions. No text message or phone call is more important than your life or the lives of those around you. We all have loved ones that we want to come home to at the end of the day.

In addition, make sure to move over and slow down when you are approaching first responders, construction workers or anyone pulled over on the shoulder of a roadway. Dial *47 (KHP) or *582 (KTA) if you see someone in need of assistance on the highway or turnpike.

Always remember to drive alert. If you feel tired, pull over and call for assistance. Prepare in advance if you think you will be drinking by arranging a ride share service, taxi or designated driver to get you, your friends and your family home safely.

Finally, be sure you and your passengers always buckle up before driving anywhere. Don’t do this just to avoid costly citations. Do it because it will likely save your life.

Through our partnerships with programs like Put on the B.R.A.K.E.S., and organizations such as KDOT and the Kansas Turnpike Authority, we strive to improve the quality of driving in our state. With your help, every traveler can feel safe as they commute to and through the great Sunflower State.

Colonel Herman T. Jones is the Superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol.

 

 

Law enforcement visit is a parent’s worst nightmare

By John Groves

A call late at night or in the early morning hours most of the time is not good news. Anytime a law enforcement officer visits your home unexpectedly, it's normally not good news either. 

On March 11, 2011, at 10:30 p.m. at night, we got one of those visits.  When I invited the officers in, I asked them, “this isn’t good, is it?”  They were there to inform us our son, Matt Groves, had just been killed by a drunk driver. 

There is no way to prepare yourself for news like this. This is a parent’s worst nightmare. Matt was only 21 years old, he just had his birthday three weeks before he was killed.  Matt was a kind, fun loving young man who was always willing to help anyone that needed it. The night he was killed, the officers told us that Matt and his friend, Teddy Martin, were helping someone in need. A young woman, Alicia Allen, was on her way home from work.  Her car had run out of gas, and they were trying to help her get it off the road and to a safe place.

While they were pushing the car, a drunk driver hit them from behind. The impact killed Matt and severely injured Teddy. If Teddy had been just one step further to the left, he very well could have joined Matt as a fatality.

Matt was always willing to help anyone who needed it.  Matt was a true Christian - he attended The First Christian Church in Leavenworth and he was the sound board operator for the late service at our church. Matt was also a deacon in our church.  He was one of the youngest deacons ever elected.  He not only helped with the services and music at his home church, he helped at another church down the street, New Hope Assembly of God, where he had made friends. They had a group of young people that formed a very close relationship.  Matt played bass guitar there and helped with the youth services on Wednesday night.  This church was also devastated about Matt’s death. The youth minister and one other member of that church visited us the day after the crash and volunteered to be pallbearers at his funeral.

We always knew that Matt had friends, however the day of his visitation and funeral we found out that Matt had hundreds of friends.  It was standing room only in the church the day of his funeral.  Matt loved life and enjoyed it fully in the time he was on this Earth. He was becoming quite a man, loved by everyone. Matt had no enemies. We WILL go forward, but with heavy hearts because a piece of our family has been taken from us.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about my son Matt.  I think, "where would he be today if he was still here?”  Would he be a 911 Dispatcher? He had taken the test but only missed passing by a few points. The people told him not to give up, to come back and take the test again in three months, because he scored higher than half the applicants.  Would he be a father, would he be a minister, a member of the military, who knows, he always wanted to lend a helping hand to people.

I’ll close with this - the person who is going to jail for a DUI eventually gets to come home. The victim’s family is the one who serves the LIFE sentence.

John Groves and his wife, Teresa, advocate for strict DUI enforcement and are from Leavenworth.