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| Technical Trooper Chad Crittenden pulls over to watch traffic near I-235 and Zoo Boulevard in Wichita. |
By Tim Potter
Southcentral Kansas
Public Affairs Manager
I’m belted comfortably into the passenger seat of a
gleaming, heavily equipped Kansas Highway Patrol SUV. It’s one of those
sun-drenched fall days when a driver can see for miles. It’s a perfect time for
traveling, on highways engineered for ease and safety.
The person driving me around the Wichita area in a 2018 Ford
Interceptor Utility is an expert driver -- Technical Trooper Chad Crittenden.
He’s been patrolling state highways as a trooper for more than 16 years. He
teaches defensive driving.
Yet, even on days like these, people still die or
get maimed on Kansas highways.
Why?
“Complacency,” Crittenden
says without hesitating. Complacency is a dominating factor in car crashes that
he responds to in the Wichita metro area.
By complacency, he means the situation where a driver
gets lulled into a false sense of security. They’ve never been in a bad
accident. They assume the driver on the side road will not suddenly pull out in
front of them. To compound the risks, they might not wear a seat belt. They might
drive while on their cell phone, chatting, texting or fidgeting with the radio
or comfort controls. So far, the multitasking has led to nothing tragic. So
they keep doing it, eyes and brain diverted as they cruise at 60, 70, 75 …
“We’re not as focused as we possibly should be,” Crittenden
says. “You have to be looking here and there,” he says, his eyes scanning back
and forth as he motors west on K-254 past a side road. It’s the same spot where
two vehicles collided with fatal consequences a few months back.
According to Kansas traffic statistics, the by-far
biggest single factor in crashes during 2017 was inattention.
That same year, most
accidents occurred during daylight hours, 63 percent; in good weather
conditions, 88 percent; with dry pavement, 87 percent; and where the road was
straight and level, 77 percent.
To Crittenden, winning the game of safe driving starts
with a mindset, a discipline – to always be prepared to survive when the
unexpected happens. It includes practicing the most basic death-defying thing
that people keep ignoring – wearing a seat belt.
How does he enforce safe habits?
From his driver seat near I-235 and Central, he zeros in on
a small, white Nissan sedan because he can see that the woman driving it is not
wearing her seat belt. She quickly pulls over after he activates his flashing
lights, and he will issue a ticket for not wearing a seat belt but only warn
her for not signaling a lane change.
When he tells her why he stopped her, she says about the
seat belt, “I just left class. I think I forgot. … I remembered it when I saw
your lights, though.”
He suggests that she stick a note on her dash to remind
herself to buckle up. “Yeah, I guess,” she good-naturedly replies. “Please wear
your seat belt,” he responds. “OK,” she says. “Thank you.”
Not all drivers react so politely. “Don’t you have anything
better to do?” the rude ones say. Some still contend it’s their “right” not to
wear a seat belt.
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| Technical Trooper Chad Crittenden stops a driver along I-135 for an expired license tag. For his safety with passing traffic, he stands to the passenger side of the vehicle while talking to the driver. |
In teaching safety, Crittenden urges his
defensive-driving students to avoid the situation that often causes aggressive
driving: leaving late and giving in to the urge to drive too fast and on edge.
So he reminds his students to leave early and avoid the aggression and stress.
It comes down to this, he says: Patience saves
lives. It translates to not speeding around every car, maybe
waiting a second or two longer and passing safely, under control.
When he exits onto a ramp, for example, he checks his
mirror to make sure someone isn’t closing in on him too quickly. He’s alert to
the potential danger of impatient drivers.
And then it happens: Minutes after he talks about the
importance of staying patient, while driving east on K-96 approaching Rock Road,
he notices a car right behind his marked patrol unit.
The driver “is in a hurry,” he says. “She’s going to
tailgate a trooper,” he exclaims, before she veers off onto the exit ramp to
Rock, seemingly oblivious to or unfazed by the traffic safety enforcer in front
of her.
She was lucky this time.
Another thing that should be part of the mindset, part of
preparation for driving: Getting enough sleep. Crittenden views a drowsy
driver as being just as dangerous as a drunken driver. The only difference
is the legality.
So while teaching his defensive-driving classes, he asks
his students how many of them got eight hours of sleep the night before.
Only a few raise their hands.
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