OPINION
opinion KANSAN.COM/OPINION MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2016
KAN$AN.COM
Illustration by Roxy Townsend
Liston: Safety behind the wheel simple, yet crucial
RYAN LISTON
@rliston235
from the moment I could buckle my own seat belt to the time I got my truck, my parents always preached safety in the car. The lessons were simple: buckle your seat belt, do not text and drive, stay aware of your surroundings. These are easy tasks, yet drivers ignore them and the consequences can be devastating.
Starting May 23 and ending June 5, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office stationed deputies around the county, including on campus, to enforce the Click it or Ticket law in Kansas. In total, 181 citations came out of 117 traffic stops, with 155 seat belt violations for adults and nine for children, according to the Sheriff's Office.
I have never understood people's refusal to wear seat belts. The main argument I hear is, "it's just a short drive." To this, I respond, "You never know what could happen." Even if you are confident in your or the driver's abilities, you can never be sure how well other drivers will be driving.
Putting on a seat belt
takes less time than reading this sentence. The insignificant amount of time and energy it takes to buckle up can have profound impacts.
According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, young adults, ages 18 to 24, "have the highest crash-related injury rates of all adults." Additionally, the report found that wearing a seat belt reduces serious crash-related injuries and deaths by nearly 50 percent, and in 2012, 55 percent of teens, ages 13-20, that died in car crashes were not wearing seat-belts.
Seat belts may seem like
simple strips of fabric, but wearing one can be the difference between life and death. I always insist my passengers wear their seat belts, often to their annoyance, but I would rather have them annoyed with me than increase the potential risk for severe injury.
Seat belt usage is not the only way to improve automobile safety, texting and driving can contribute to distractions that lead to accidents. According to the Official US Government Website for Distracted Driving, 3,179 people were killed and 431,000 were injured as
a result of distracted driving in 2014. The National Safety Council also released a report in 2014 estimating that 26 percent of all vehicle crashes involved cell phone use.
Whenever I get into a friend's car and they start texting, I feel much less safe. They take their eyes off of the road and often start to drift out of their lane. In these situations, I offer to respond to the text message for my friend, or I ask them to stop texting. It may be tempting to text and drive since we have become so accustomed to immediate
responses, but when you get behind the wheel, it is important to set down the phone.
Driving can come naturally to experienced drivers, but it can become dangerous without notice. The phrase "better safe than sorry" is especially true when it comes to driving. No matter the length of the drive, no matter the situation: buckle your seat belt, do not text and drive, stay aware of your surroundings.
Ryan Liston is a sophomore from Lawrence studying journalism.
Clough: Education cuts will have lasting impact
▶ MATTHEW CLOUGH
@mclouahsotlv
Kansas' education system has been in a steady state of decline for a while now. Back in February 2015, Gov. Sam Brownback cut $28 million from elementary and secondary school funding to compensate for a budget lapse resulting from lowered income taxes. Earlier this year, universities took a hit of $17 million. And come July 1, Kansas schools may
be in even more jeopardy.
On Tuesday, Brownback called a legislative special session to address inequitable funding issues for Kansas school districts. The session is set for June 23, but if the legislature cannot formulate a plan by the end of the month, school funding and operations may come to a halt July 1.
The special session is a necessary measure, but it's simply pathetic that the state has come to this
point. Our education systems have been suffering for an extensive period of time, and the possibility that primary and secondary education is approaching a potential shutdown is inexcusable.
Certainly, there's a finite amount of money available for state budgeting purposes, and allocating it among the many departments and programs that require funding is no easy task. But more often than not it seems as if education faces
Perhaps it's a cliché by now, but education is the gateway to the future. Without well-educated, knowledgeable and tactful students (who will become our future leaders), our state is going to regress.
the brunt of budget slashing, and I can't help but feel that as an institution, it should be one of the very last to be targeted.
It's time for change now. The U.S. News & World Report ranked Kansas high schools 46th in the
nation in terms of college preparedness. Some school districts are already facing shortened school years. For the 2016-17 academic year, Wichita schools will be in session 3 weeks less than usual and students will be in school 30 minutes longer each day. Losing 3 weeks of contact with instructors is detrimental to students' development, and adding extra time each day won't be productive unless students are given even more content
and homework to endure before class time. Current solutions to save money simply aren't working.
It's embarrassing that our state's education system is approaching a phase of uncertainty and potential shutdown. These issues need to be resolved quickly and avoided completely in the future.
Matthew Clough is a senior from Wichita studying English and journalism.
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