by Chris Herrick
I started my first career at NCR Corporation as a sales
representative. My job was to sell retail applications to businesses that
helped them control their inventory and provided them with an audit trail of
business transactions. While working at NCR, I always felt like I was trying to
sell someone something that I had very little personal experience with and
never used myself. For the last 20 years I have worked for KDOT, and have
listened to all of our safety campaigns over the years “Click it or Ticket,”
“Drunk Driving: Over the Limit, Under Arrest” etc.
Three years ago I really realized how important our
campaigns are and how seat belts do save lives. Three years ago my in-laws came
to visit us so they could attend a school band concert that my youngest son was
playing in. My in-laws, who were in their 70s, lived in Wichita and traveled to
Topeka for the concert. After the concert was over they decided to drive back
to Wichita even though it was raining. We didn’t like the idea of them driving
in the rain but they had commitments the next day that they couldn’t miss.
On their drive back to Wichita, it started raining hard. Just
outside of Emporia my father-in-law started hydroplaning and hit the middle
concrete barrier on the Turnpike. He tried to regain control of his car but he
was unable to and their car careened out of control down a steep embankment. Their
car ended up in a creek that was quickly filling up with water.
Luckily, a car behind them saw what had happened and stopped
to help them. Both of my in-laws were able to walk up the embankment with help
from the people who stopped to help. Both of my in-laws were wearing seat belts
which minimized their injuries. Their car was mangled but somehow they were
able to walk away from the crash. Without their seat belts, I don’t believe
that they would have survived the crash. My mother-in-law sustained a crushed
vertebra and my father-in-law suffered a head trauma that later caused a brain
bleed.
Unfortunately for us, my father-in-law was on a blood
thinner and later suffered a fatal brain bleed due to the head trauma and
passed away. It was really difficult for me to lose a person I looked up to and
considered one of my best friends. But I am convinced, if he wouldn’t have been
wearing a seat belt, he probably wouldn’t have survived the immediate crash. My
mother-in-law survived the crash and is doing fine, which is a blessing.
It took a personal experience like this to drive home the
point of how important our safety promotions are and how important it is to
wear your seat belt. Seat belts save lives, so PLEASE buckle up!
Chris Herrick is the
KDOT Director of Planning and Development.
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