NEWS RELEASE: September 22, 2006
FROM: The Kansas Highway Patrol
CONTACT: LT John Eichkorn 785-296-6800
Trooper Edna R. Buttler
Troopers Issued Patrol Vehicles
The Kansas Highway Patrol’s 11 newest troopers received their patrol vehicles en masse today at the Patrol’s fleet facility in Topeka. The troopers graduated in June from the Kansas Highway Patrol Training Academy, where they participated in a rigorous 22-week training course. The troopers received an additional 16 weeks of field training to prepare to patrol Kansas’s highways in their own Ford Crown Victoria patrol cars.
“Issuing the new troopers their own patrol vehicles is an important part of the agency’s mission to reduce the number and severity of traffic crashes,” said Superintendent Colonel William Seck. “The new troopers will join veteran troopers who are committed to enforcing Kansas’s traffic safety laws and encouraging motorists to wear their safety belts and properly secure child passengers every time they ride in a vehicle.”
Safety belt use among Kansans has steadily increased every year since 2001; however, the state is below the national average. A 2006 survey showed 73 percent of Kansans are buckling up, an increase of 4 percent from 2005. Although this is an improvement, Kansas was ranked 43rd in the country for safety belt use in 2005. Statewide statistics also show that 66 percent of individuals killed in traffic crashes in 2004 were not wearing a seat belt, and 70 percent of those killed in 2005 were not buckled up.
Occupant protection is critical to reducing injuries and deaths associated with motor vehicle crashes. The public can do their part by buckling up, properly securing child passengers, and driving safely and responsibly.