Every year the Kansas Department of Transportation, along with several other organizations hold a poster contest for Put the Breaks on Fatalities Day.
    Ally Harrelsoncrowell, a Wellington Middle School sixth grader was a regional winner of the contest this year.
    Put the Breaks on Fatalities Day was Oct. 10. On Monday, Kansas State Trooper Public Resources Officer Gary Warner and Martin Miller, KDOT Public Affairs Manager presented Harrelsoncrowell with her prize. She, along with the other regional winners, received a brand new bike donated by Wal-Mart and a bicycle helmet donated by Safe Kids Kansas.
    Harrelsoncrowell's winning poster design was centered around the dangers of text messaging while driving. It fit well in this year's theme for Put the Breaks on Fatalities Day which was "Don't be Driven to Distraction - Drive to Arrive." Harrelsoncrowell was surprised she won and is proud to represent Wellington.
    "I thought about the most common reasons people crash," Harrelsoncrowell said. "Since a lot of shows are doing things to help most teens stop from texting, I decided on that."
    Students from all across the state participated in the poster art contest. The categories were broken down by age — ages 5 to 7, 8 to 10, and 11 to 13. Nearly 700 entrees were received with 18 regional winners and three state winners. The contest is a part of an effort to raise awareness for vehicle safety.
    "Every year it's just related to Put The Breaks on Fatalities Day, how can people be safer driving," Miller said. "A lot of times the theme is around seat belts, but the current theme is that people have been talking about around the country is how texting and driving is the same as being a drunk driver so it's very dangerous."
    Before Harrelsoncrowell received her winnings, Trooper Warner talked to the sixth graders about just how important Put the Breaks on Fatalities Day is.
    While addressing the sixth grade class, Warner referenced a study done by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
    He said the study found that people who use a cell phone while driving are at a four times greater chance of being involved in a wreck. That number jumps up to a 24 times greater chance if a person is text messaging while on the roadway.
    "The bottom line is the thing that we have found across the state and across the United States is when we have local involvement like this it generates local interest and that translates into people doing things things that are safer when they're in the vehicle," said Warner after presenting Harrelsoncrowell with her prize.
    He went on to say that is a bonus someone from Wellington was able to win the regional prize so people in the community are aware of what they're doing behind the wheel.
    "The fact that she chose texting is so neat because that has been shown in studies time after time how risky of a behavior that is," Warner said.
    According to the KDOT website, 40,000 traffic fatalities take place every year which averages out to one death every 13 minutes. In 2008 385 people were killed on Kansas highways.
    KDOT, along with other sponsors including the Kansas Highway Patrol, AAA of Kansas, Kansas Contractors Association, Kansas Corporation Commission, Federal Highway Administration, Kansas Turnpike Authority and the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers hope that the posters like Harrelsoncrowell's and Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day drives home a message of safety.