‘Poor driving places everyone on the road at risk’: Agencies launch safety campaign
Wichita police sergeant Mike Lloyd was on his way to work one morning in 2019. As he crossed 13th Street, he said, a woman pulled out in front of him and the two crashed.
Fortunately, Lloyd says, neither was injured. But the outcome could have been very different if it weren’t for their seat belts.
“First thing she tells me is that she’s drunk, but my more important concern was is if she was OK, which she was. She had found out that she had a death in the family the night before and decided to drink,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd is the motor unit sergeant for the traffic section of the Wichita Police Department. He says officers continue to see behaviors that contribute to distracted or impaired driving and lead to traffic accidents.
Wednesday, several law enforcement agencies launched the “Drive Safe Sedgwick” initiative, aimed at lowering traffic deaths and serious injuries in Sedgwick County and the Wichita metro area.
The campaign will be promoted through TV and radio ads, social media posts, billboards and a website.
Between 2016 and 2020, there were 305 crash-related deaths in Sedgwick County. Nearly a quarter of those involved alcohol. Based on data collected for 2017 and 2018, over 41 percent occurred when people were not wearing their seat belts, said Chris Bortz, KDOT transportation safety assistant bureau chief.
“Nearly all fatal or suspected serious injury accidents are result of the driver not following the rules of the road. This poor driving behavior places everyone on the road at risk,” Bortz said.
Wichita’s most recent traffic death came Sunday night. Don Kirk, 42, of Wichita, died after being struck by a pickup truck in north Wichita. Alonso Garcia-Amaya, 33, of Wichita, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, court records show.
Losing a loved one
Whitney Kallenbach was a junior in high school in 2008 when she got a phone call saying that no one could reach her father. “He wasn’t answering any of his phone calls and was going straight to voicemail; this was very odd of him.”
After multiple calls, Kallenbach got the news: Her father had died in an accident.
“My father, Kevin Williams, was at K-42 and Hoover on a Friday night around 9:30 p.m. He had the green arrow and he turned left. The other driver ran a red light, hit him and kept on going, Kallenbach said.
Kallenbach volunteers at the DUI Victim Center of Kansas. She credits the organization with helping her and her family through the traumatic experience.
“This was a crash that could have been 100 percent preventable. Don’t do this to somebody else. It’s not worth it. ... My dad was the glue that held us all together, and we didn’t know that until that glue was longer there,” Kallenbach says.
Lloyd said he has been out on about three or four dozen critical accident calls. He says most of them involve alcohol or drug use and, at times, texting.
“There’s nothing worse than getting a phone call at 2 a.m. saying ‘hey, there’s been a critical accident. We need your team to come out.’ You get there and find out there’s multiple injuries and sometimes a death, which we have to make a notification of. ... I don’t like being the person that has to do that, but somebody has to. It’s very unnerving to have to go to out there and tell a parent their son or daughter has passed away,” Lloyd said.
The Drive Safe Sedgwick initiative has created a website to show the consequences of impaired driving. It also contains information on child passenger safety, speeding and seat belt use. Video testimonials of those who have lost loved ones to reckless driving are included.
Traffic safety resources are available online through KTSRO.org and Kansasdrivetozero.com.
This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.