by Phyllis Marotta
Okay, I admit it: I’m a safety nerd. You know, the grandma
who makes sure the kiddos are safely buckled into the correct carseat. The
person who gives you the “buckle up” gesture at the red light when she sees you
aren’t wearing your seatbelt. The one who reminds you to have a SOBER designated
driver for the night. The woman who promotes the graduated drivers license law
for teens, which gives them lots of supervised experience behind the wheel. The
gal who dons a helmet when she gets on the back of a motorcycle. The one who
tells you to put down the phone when you aren’t paying attention to the green
turn arrow. So, was I born this way, or am I a product of my environment?
I am definitely a product of my environment. At one time, I
was the teen who rolled a car on a country road because I was not experienced
enough to know that if you hit the brakes on gravel, you’d lose control. I was
also the woman who was always nodding off at the wheel because I didn’t know I
had mild narcolepsy. I’m the driver who admits to having a lead foot--but I’m working
on correcting that habit because I know speed kills.
Wearing a helmet did not come naturally to me--I loved
feeling my hair blow in the wind! Child safety seats? C’mon, I was the little
girl sitting on the tailgate of the family station wagon in the 1950s; my
brothers thought it was great fun to give me a little shove and then yell at
Dad to slow down so I could run and hop back on. Riding inside the car, my mom
was my seatbelt, throwing out her arm to protect me when she slammed on the brakes.
As for modern technology--weren’t cell phones invented to keep me alert,
especially on a long trip?
So when did my habits and attitudes start changing? Forty
years ago, a close friend fell asleep at the wheel, hit a culvert, and was
killed. Nearly twenty years ago, some friends were hit by a drunk driver the
weekend before their baby was due, killing their beautiful baby girl. Twelve
years ago, a woman from our small town fell asleep and drove under a semi,
killing herself and her two sons. Ten years ago, a friend and I were the first
ones to discover a rollover crash, where I found the driver facedown in a
ditch, ejected from his pickup and killed, and the area strewn with empty beer
cans. Even after experiencing those tragedies, I wasn’t the safety advocate that
I am today.
For the past 7 years, I have worked in KDOT’s Traffic Safety
Section. Within the first month on the job, my son lost one of his friends due
to driving drunk and not wearing a seatbelt. Just a couple of weeks later, a
friend of mine driving a grain truck failed to stop at the stop sign at a rural
intersection less than a mile from his home, was hit by another truck, was not
wearing his seatbelt, and was killed. I have read too many fatal crash reports,
and have studied enough stats to make my head spin.
I have worked with law enforcement officers, and have
watched them detect and arrest drunk drivers. I have mourned the loss of a
close friend who was the victim of a drunk driver. I have seen a friend loaded
into an ambulance because he pulled out on his motorcycle in front of a pickup.
I have seen many close calls where drivers were focusing on phones (or other
distractions) instead of driving. I have pleaded with friends and family
members, and argued with them about whether it should be their “choice” or the
law to wear their seatbelts/helmets.
On the flip side, I have seen our adult seatbelt rate go
from 68% to 83%. I’ve seen many life-saving improvements in our laws. I’ve seen
children leave a parking lot more safely than they arrived, because parents
were taught how to install car seats. I’ve heard stories from teens about
surviving crashes because they made the choice to buckle up after going through
the S.A.F.E. (Seatbelts Are For Everyone) program. I’ve seen drivers, including
myself, change behaviors due to dangers that have been brought to our
attention.
Sometimes I get discouraged with the ones who don’t get the
message, but I’m still determined to try to “Put the Brakes on Fatalities” by
reaching one person at a time!
Phyllis Marotta is in
KDOT’s Transportation Safety and Technology Bureau
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