Sleepy and tired are impairments when driving

Ray Savage

By Ray Savage

The date was Feb. 10, 1992, and a cold rain was falling.  I was traveling east on Highway 50 four miles west of Peabody where I resided. 

At the time, Highway 50 had no shoulders and ditches that quickly dropped off to nothing. Although I am missing the next 2.5 days, the police report states that I swerved into the opposite lane because I encountered a vehicle traveling west in my lane. 

The 18-year-old driver from Chicago, who was driving a stolen vehicle, swerved back and we collided head on. The police determined I was traveling 61 mph and the 18-year-old was traveling 73 mph. There were no skid marks. 

After being extracted from my small Mazda truck that took over an hour, I was airlifted to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. The doctors found that I had gashes in my forehead, elbow and chin that required stitches. The third and fourth vertebrae's in my neck were cracked, my nose was broken and my septum was deviated - injuries that eventually required a separate surgery. My left collar bone was broken, my large intestine was ruptured along with my spleen and appendix, requiring exploratory surgery. Numerous bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes; and, two months later, they found that my right leg had been broken. 

This horrific accident was caused by an impaired driver. Yet, the toxicology report on the18-year-old driver came back clean. So, how could he have been impaired?  He was sleepy!!  He was tired!! Yes, being sleepy and tired are impairments when driving any type of vehicle. 

The 18-year-old, who was not wearing a seat belt, was killed at the scene when he was thrown through the windshield. Can you imagine his parents getting the news that their son had been killed in an automobile accident in Kansas? They may not have even known he had left the Chicago area. 

I had my seat belt on. Although, it caused my broken collar bone and internal injuries, I have no doubt that it saved my life. Remember, however, that the year was 1992 and seat belts were not required to be worn. I never wore my seat belt and the buckle was under the seat. So how did it get on? I know what I believe - I will, however, let you draw your own conclusion.  

Ray Savage is retired from the Peabody-Burns School District and lives in Peabody.

 

 

Texting friends and family can wait

By Karah Bosmeijer

Karah and her husband, Ian.

It was almost the end of my senior year. Five days earlier I had joined the cheerleading team at Garden City Community college, and in two weeks, I would graduate from high school. I had just finished cheer practice and was headed home to Deerfield, a small, rural community on U.S. 50 in southwest Kansas. A list of everything I still needed to do before graduation was running through my head as I passed the U.S. 83 truck stop.

I texted friends and family, asking if they were going to attend my graduation ceremony. As I started to receive their responses, I looked up to see a semi with a flatbed trailer rolling to a stop in front of me, as the driver waited for traffic to clear so he could turn.  At 65 mph, there was little time to hit the brakes. Crashing into the flatbed was just the beginning of one of scariest experiences I have ever encountered. 

The force of the accident was great enough to destroy the front half of the car and shatter every window, but the driver of the semi was oblivious to the crash.  The semi started to turn, dragging me with it. Panicking, I honked my horn and was eventually discovered by the driver. 

There I sat, feeling the heat from the asphalt, sitting next to the rumble strips and holding a towel full of blood to my forehead. I watched as strangers, firefighters, EMT, police officers and friends recognized my car and stopped to help me. Being young and invincible, it took me years to realize how amazingly blessed I am. Thinking about how many people’s lives I put in danger, and how my friends and family could easily be dealing with my thoughtless actions in a much different way is terrifying.

Today, I work for a company that is extremely invested in their safety culture. As I learn and grow every day I am constantly reminded to TAKE TWO. Taking two extra seconds to Stop! Think! Then Act!  The three key principles that are implemented into our daily routine are:

• Do it safely or not at all.
• There is always time to do it safely.
• Care for each other’s health, safety and security.

Ten years have gone by and I continue to be amazed by what life has to offer. I challenge anyone reading this to “Take Two” into your daily life. Take two extra seconds to send that text before you drive. Two extra seconds to buckle your seat belt. Two extra seconds to check that the intersection is clear. Two extra seconds to say I love you to yourself and your loved ones!


Safety. Always. Everywhere.


Karah (Miller) Bosmeijer is the Administrative Coordinator / Division Trainer for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Garden City.

 

When it clicks: Seat belts save lives

By Dan Zirkle

It was a usual Wednesday morning on Sept. 15, 2010, and I was doing the daily duties of a KDOT inspector. The striping contractor was working on the project the day before, so a coworker and myself were measuring the striping for pavement. When we finished measuring the striping it was almost time for lunch, so we decided to head back to the construction lab. Just as we started back to the lab it started to drizzle.

We were heading south on the U.S. 59 highway project south of Lawrence when we merged onto the shoo-fly lane that moved traffic around the construction. On the south end of the shoo-fly a northbound car crossed the double yellow line and hit our truck head on. The car took most of the force from the collision.

A total of three motorists were part of the accident, the driver of the Nissan Sentra who crossed the double yellow lines, my coworker and myself. The driver of the Sentra was transported to a Topeka hospital and then transferred to KU Medical Center. My co-worker and myself were very lucky that day and only received minor injuries. My coworker was transported to and released from Lawrence Memorial Hospital and I was transferred to KU Medical Center with a dislocated and fractured left mid-foot that put me out of work for six months.

Everyone involved was wearing seat belts, though everyone was injured, it could have been a lot worse. I always wore my seat belt before the crash and now after, it’s absolutely a necessity.

What seems to start out as any normal day may not end that way, as that Wednesday in September for me. I feel fortunate that I can tell my story and that my wife and kids still have their husband and father. Safety is the responsibility of every person on the roadways and is the one thing that keeps them from having a life-changing event.

The following is a quote from William M. Jeffers, former President of Union Pacific Railroad Co. (1946); “Safety applies with equal force to the individual, to the family, to the employer, to the state, the nation and to international affairs.  Safety, in its widest sense, concerns the happiness, contentment and freedom of mankind.

Dan Zirkle is an Engineering Technician Senior in KDOT’s Bureau of Construction and Materials.

 

 

 

Better to arrive safely than not at all

Travis Harries

By Travis Harries

As an over the road driver I see all kinds of things that make me scratch my head. Mostly I observe people in a hurry that take unnecessary risks. My biggest question a lot of the time is, what’s the hurry? If I ever had the opportunity, I would ask them, “Wouldn’t you rather be a minute or two late than to not get there at all?”

I’ve been driving a truck for over 24 years. A lot has changed in the industry, that is for sure. And yes, I’ve probably done a few unsafe things in the past. I’ve learned through the many years on the road that sometimes going a little slower might just be the faster option. In my travels each week, I am traveling every type of road suitable for transportation. 

Personally, I rather stay on two-lane highways that go through the more remote parts of the country. Keeping in mind that my truck is governed at 65 mph, I am more often than not, a rolling speed bump. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to slam on the brakes, because someone was in a hurry to pass in an area that wasn’t safe to do so or where there was oncoming traffic. Because of our better view point, we can see much further than a personal vehicle, which makes watching these drivers pass in dangerous area more concerning.

Is your hurry or rush to get somewhere worth the risk of your life or someone else’s? Remember you are not only putting yourself at risk, you are putting all motorists at risk too. My end goal every week is to be as safe as I can and keep those around me safe, even if they aren’t of the same safety mindset as me, so I can get home to my family.

My wife and kids will often give me a hard time about some of my decisions while just driving around town. My explanation is always that it wasn’t worth the risk to do that, what’s the hurry? I know they aren’t serious about the ribbing, it’s just how I am. Safety has become somewhat of a lifestyle for me when I travel. That oncoming car might be headed to church or a ballgame or program at school. So, I must ask again, is your hurry worth it?

If I had any words of advice, I would just simply say to slow it down a bit. Be patient in your travels. Avoid the distractions as best you can. Don’t take those unnecessary risks. We all have the same goals when it comes down to it.  Always better to arrive safely at our destination than not at all.

Travis Harries is with Walmart Transportation and nominated for Kansas Road Team for KMCA 2018-2020.

 

Don't let technology make decisions for you

Deb Gruver, left, with her mother, Vera Gruver, and

husband, Joshua Wood.

By Deb Gruver

I was cruising east on K-254 from Wichita, headed to training in Augusta offered by the Kansas Division of Emergency Management.

Not terribly familiar with getting to Augusta via 254, I had plugged in the address of the events center into my car’s navigation system.

I knew I’d be turning from 254 onto Ohio Street. The voice that narrates my road trips kept barking that order at me every few miles. “In five miles, turn right on Ohio Street.”

I came up behind a semitruck that was driving considerably slower than I was. I passed it.

I did so and got back into the right lane – just as my GPS wanted me to turn on Ohio, now only a few feet ahead of me.

I knew I was too close to the semi to make a sudden turn. But my car was telling me “Turn right on Ohio! Turn right on Ohio!”

I did just that.

I did all but slam on my brakes and peel off to the right, the semi, which I had just passed, right on my bumper.

The driver honked at me.

He or she had every right to do so. I had no business taking that turn after having just gone around the truck.

But a voice in my car was telling me to turn, so I turned.

My 2017 hybrid has all the latest technology (well, in its class – I’m sure a Mercedes or Jaguar has some toys my car doesn’t have). When I go to turn right, a camera pops up to show me what’s to my side. Apple Car Play allows me to access my painstakingly-curated playlists with a quick touch of a computer screen. If I want it to, it will read my text messages aloud or play voicemails.

Most of that technology is great. I feel safer with a back-up camera, lane keep assist and the alert that sounds if I’m getting too close to a vehicle or obstacle in front of me. Brake! Brake! Brake!

But just because my car barks an order at me doesn’t mean I have to follow that order.

If the semi driver hadn’t been doing a better job on the road than I was, I have no doubt I would been added to the list of fatalities on our roadways.

I learned a scary lesson that day. I can’t let technology make decisions for me.

I need to rely on common sense when I’m behind the wheel.

Deb Gruver is the KDOT Public Affairs Manager in Hutchinson

Impact of traffic fatalities is everlasting

By Lana Urteaga

Lana Urteaga

Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day is a great campaign to bring awareness to traffic related collisions. These fatalities impact each of our lives in different ways. One such incident that I can remember as a Patrol Officer occurred back around the year 2008.

I was called into work to assist officers who were working a fatality accident involving an 18-year-old man. I was called to assist at the hospital as the young man’s family had not yet been located and the young man had no identification on him to be identified.

I remembered his phone ringing in his pocket and the song that played. I remember the name that came up on the screen, “Baby Girl,” and thinking this must have been his girlfriend calling to see where he was at.

As I stood in the hospital room looking at this young man, wondering what could have possibly happened, his mother walked into the room to identify her son, who was draped in only a thin sheet. The room instantly flooded with emotion as I looked on, wondering how I could comfort this woman and ease her pain.

I later learned what had happened. I was told he was on a motorcycle, not wearing a helmet, and had alcohol in his system. I remember thinking how this could have all been avoided. The impact traffic fatalities have on family, loved ones and first responders is everlasting. I still remember the details as if it happened yesterday. Please, don’t drive under the influence!

Sgt. Lana Urteaga is in the Office of Public Information for the Garden City Police Department

Wake-up call comes with a scraped helmet

By Lisa Rasor

Lisa Rasor

A few years ago, I started keeping my mountain bike in my office in downtown Topeka so I could bike the Shunga and Landon trails after work. I liked to do 10 to 15 miles before heading home to Lawrence for the night. The Topeka trails are great, with lots of curves and no real hills; perfect for an easy after-work ride. (Lawrence has nice trails too, but you have to cross roadways and look out for cars, so they’re not as fun.)

But a fun, easy route doesn’t mean you can let your attention wander. I bicycle regularly on paved trails, county roads and state highways; I know riding takes caution and concentration. But sometimes the reminders arrive the hard way.

One evening I rode the whole length of the Shunga Trail to Fairlawn Road and was headed back toward downtown. I was going at a good clip as I passed under Kansas Avenue and approached the rather sharp curve to the left the trail takes there. My thoughts were not on where I was or what I was doing. I was thinking about some errands I needed to do later, and the rest of my to-do list, as I took that curve.

In the space of a second my mind was yanked back to the present as I realized that: (a) I was not turning as much as I needed to, and (b) I was not going to clear the curve.  I managed to get my right hand off the handlebars just before they hit the metal railing on the outside of the curve. The impact threw me off the bike. My right leg hit the handlebars, now twisted parallel to my front wheel, as I went over.

I hit the concrete and slid a bit. As I sat up, my main concerns were my bike (obviously not rideable) and my left elbow (bleeding, but not too badly). Legs and feet were bruised, but clearly nothing was broken. I was just a couple miles from my office, so as soon as I got my breath back and dabbed at my elbow a bit, I walked my bike back downtown.

It wasn’t until I took my helmet off and saw the ragged scrape on the outer shell that I realized my wreck could have been worse—a lot worse. I was glad then of my habit of wearing my helmet on all bike rides, even short ones on a trail.  As it was, I was bruised up pretty bad and had to take a break from riding for a couple of weeks.

The bike shop fixed my bike and I bought a new helmet (necessary after a wreck, or every few years — whichever comes first).  I do try to stay in the moment as much as possible on rides. Being distracted while riding a bicycle, similar to being distracted while driving a car, is not likely to end well.

 

Lisa Rasor is a Litigation Paralegal in KDOT’s Office of Chief Counsel.