Over the past month as school has started, there have been several car accidents involving SES students. However, this isn’t just happening at our school. Car crashes and fatalities as a result of these accidents have been increasing over the past few years. What is causing all of these accidents? Are we taking the appropriate measures to prevent them?

Over the past 10 years, car crashes have steadily risen in the state of Kansas. As of August, there have been 404 deaths from car crashes in 2022, which is almost as many as the previous year, in only eight months.

According to KWCH 12, most of these accidents were the result of speeding. The faster a driver is going, the less reaction time they have, which is why speeding can be so deadly.

Another cause of accidents is cell phone usage. Cell phones are a huge culprit as to why car crashes have increased over the past ten years. Ten years ago, cell phones were not very frequently used when driving. Now, cell phones are brought everywhere and cell phones in the car can be very dangerous for drivers who get distracted or need to check their phones. 

What about our students? Over the past month, there have been 3 accidents involving SES students. “I believe that the leading cause of the majority of these accidents is driving too fast, inattention, and cell phone usage.” said Officer Long. 

One of these accidents involved Sophomore Alec Sawyers. “I was driving down a dirt road after work, just trying to get home, when suddenly my car started to drift to the left. In response, I pulled back to the right trying to correct it, but I overcorrected and went into the ditch.” said Alec. 

Another one of these accidents involved four students driving on K4. “It had just been raining, so the roads were wet and we were all bunched up because we had just finished following the pilot car. The car in front of me slammed on their brakes so I did the same and got rear-ended by Zack, who was hit by Nathan, who was rear-ended by Mac.” said Senior Jase VanAmburg. 

Overall, car accidents are a major problem. It is important to raise awareness to everyone about driving safely, and about the consequences that can come from speeding and distracted driving. 

Work Cited

Loging, Shawn. “Highway patrol addresses concerning rise in Kansas traffic deaths.” KWCH, 29 March 2022, https://www.kwch.com/2022/03/29/highway-patrol-addresses-concerning-rise-kansas-traffic-deaths/. Accessed 13 September 2022.