Hickman Courier
05/27/09
Charlotte Smith
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With the “Click It or Ticket” campaign going and local graduations approaching this weekend, local and state law enforcement agencies are working diligently to remind everyone the importance of not only not driving drunk or buzzed, but the need for everyone to wear their seatbelts. On May 22, a somber scene was played out for all high school students of Fulton County High School reminding them not to drink and drive and to wear their seatbelt. Hickman Police Department, Fulton County Rescue Squad, Air Evac, Hickman Fire Department, Fulton County Sheriff, Fulton County Coroner, Fulton County Emergency Management, Twin Cities Ambulance Service and Kentucky State Police aided with the “mock wreck”. Emergency medical personnel from Twin Cities Ambulance administered medical attention to the injured students. Fulton County Rescue Squad used the “jaws of life” to remove one of the students from a vehicle. Students Tyler Vowell, Lacy Roberson, Jacob Goodman and Caitlin Atwill took part in the enactment of a wreck that took place on graduation night. Goodman and Atwill were driving home after attending a graduation party, traveling Hwy 94 East when Goodman apparently misjudged his driving abilities and hit the vehicle Roberson was driving on Hwy 94 West head on. Roberson and Vowell were on the way home after working at Hub’s Restaurant when the accident occurred, they weren’t drinking, but they didn’t have their seatbelts on. Hickman Police and a member of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department were the first on the scene. When they got to the scene they noticed Goodman walking around looking confused. Goodman was disoriented and bleeding from a gash in his head. He was given a sobriety test and then arrested for drunk driving. Vowell was on the ground after he was thrown from Roberson’s vehicle because he didn’t have his seatbelt on. The Fulton County Rescue Squad arrived on the scene to cut Atwill from Goodman’s vehicle. Coroner Moss documented the scene with photographs when it was discovered that Roberson was “dead at the scene.” Students were quiet as they watched while Roberson became the latest Kentucky resident to be a statistic. According to Keith Todd with the Kentucky Department of Transportation, as of May 22, 291 fatalities have occurred on Kentucky Roadways. Approximately 60% of those fatalities were not wearing their seatbelts. Last year 284 fatalities occurred during this same time. “The number was lower this year,” said Todd, “but the recent rain and bad weather in Eastern Kentucky has pushed the number higher.” In 2005, before the bill was passed requiring passengers to wear their seatbelts a total of 340 fatalities occurred during this same time frame. During the year 2008, 826 lives were lost in car accidents. If the numbers for 2009 stay in line with last year, “500 more Kentuckians will not be around to celebrate New Year’s with their loved ones,” added Todd. Right now approximately 73% of all Kentuckians actually wear their seatbelts. “That number is traditionally lower in the River Counties,” Todd commented. The “Click it or Ticket” campaign began May 18 and runs through May 31, graduation night at Fulton County High School. Fulton High School students will graduate on Friday, May 29. All drivers, 18, 50, 32, or 70, any age, are encouraged to wear their seatbelts and not drink and drive. When the mock wreck concluded the narrator advised the students in attendance to wear their seatbelts. “If you don’t, you will get a ticket,” she said. Take that extra step to ensure you and your passengers’ safety by buckling up and don’t drink and drive.
