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     Introduction

Imagine that every day for the next year, a fully-loaded, 110-passenger jetliner crashes, taking the lives of everyone on board. By the end of the year, more than 40,000 people would die. Predictably, the public would get upset...and would be demanding some kind of action.

That's exactly what happens on our nation's highways: Nearly 40,000 people die in traffic crashes each and every year in the United States. In airplane crashes, a mechanical malfunction of the airplane itself is frequently at fault; passengers have little control. But in a vehicle on the roadway, people have a lot of control. Yet, the tragic fact is most crashes occur as a result of driver error. Safety experts estimate 92 percent of all fatalities are caused by human error.

Each year, in Kansas alone, more than 500 people lose their lives and more than 30,000 are seriously injured. To reduce this senseless loss of life and thousands of serious injuries, drivers need to realize their behavior and attitudes are major parts of the solution. We at the Kansas Department of Transportation are dedicated to doing our part by providing quality roads, clear signage and safe bridges. You, as a driver, need to do your part as well.

I'm here today to discuss what motorists can do to become safe drivers. This presentation is part of a statewide effort by KDOT to help educate drivers about driving driving under various circumstances and on different kinds of roads. It's part of a campaign called Kansas Driving: Safe. Not Sorry. In addition to these presentations, there are billboards, radio and television announcements, articles in newspapers and more.

There's an old saying, "Knowledge is power." So we hope some of the information offered here can help empower you to be a safer driver.

A Few Statistics

Here's when most crashes in Kansas generally occur:

Time of day:

• Most crashes between 5 - 6 p.m.
• Most deaths between 1 - 2 p.m.

Day of the week:

• Most crashes on Friday
• Most deaths on Saturday

Month of the year:

• Most crashes in November
• Most deaths in October

Holiday:

• Most crashes on Thanksgiving and New Year's Day
• Most deaths on Thanksgiving and Memorial Day

Contributing Circumstances:

• Failure to give full time and attention to driving
• Failure to yield right of way
• Driving too fast for conditions
• Animals (deer are responsible for more than 10,000 crashes with 400-plus injuries and an occasional death)

(Stats provided by KDOT: 1999 Kansas Accident Quick Facts)