A sixteen year old South Central student is using her own personal tragedy to help draw attention to safety concerns at a hazardous intersection near the school.
High School Teacher Cortny Barnes noted that while serving as a speech teacher for more than a decade, she has been encouraging students to pick topics that are important them with an annual assignment.
She explained, “We’ve always had a persuasive speech with a call to action to actually ask students to really think about how you can create actionable change.”
Junior Elle Kimmel, who lost her father Richard in February of 2007 to a fatal accident that occurred at the intersection of US 30 and 600 W, said there was no doubt in her mind what she needed to address.
Kimmel shared, “As soon as I heard persuasive, I knew this was my topic.”
In her presentation, Kimmel touched on statistics, highlighting that just within the past 3-years, there have been 14 crashes at this intersection. She also stressed that there are stop lights in place for similar intersections near Wheeler High School, Boone Grove, New Prairie, and Oregon-Davis Schools.
She emphasized why this was such an important subject for her to address.
Kimmel said, “Obviously, my father’s crash is the main part but a lot of my friends, at school they’ll be like ‘Wow 30 was crazy today’ or that they were scared to cross in the morning so I definitely want to change to make it safer for everyone so they don’t have to worry anymore.”
Elle’s mother, June Spoa-Kimmel, acknowledged that there may be reservations related to cost but shared that ultimately, the safety of inexperienced student drivers and other motorists should be taken into consideration before another tragedy strikes.
She noted, “At some point you have to leave the almighty dollar off the table, I understand, everyone has budgets, but I am so blessed to work for a company where we are proactive with our safety instead reactive and I think the Indiana Department of Transportation needs to see that as well at the intersection of 600 and 30.”
Elle went on to discuss that she is hoping that INDOT will respond to her call to action with an updated, more comprehensive traffic study at the intersection.
She stressed, “To see what the best safety option is because I don’t know what the best safety option is but I do know that there need to be big improvements.”
High School Principal Ben Anderson touched on Elle’s character and how she is a consistently positive influence at South Central.
He mentioned, “Our school is blessed with a lot of great kids and Elle is one of them. She’s a hard worker, she’s a three sport athlete and she is an aid for us in the office. She does a lot of great things around the school while maintaining all A’s and a high GPA.
Once Principal Anderson knew that Elle would be addressing this subject, he said he reached out to INDOT officials as well as State Representative Jim Pressel.
Pressel was in attendance for Elle’s speech Wednesday morning.
He remarked, “I’d really like to thank Elle for brining this all up. She really brings a lot of light to a much needed issue.”
Pressel said that improving road safety and addressing distracted driving are matters that will be addressed when the General Assembly reconvenes in January.
He also said he plans to personally advocate for a new traffic study to be conducted at this particular intersection, noting the importance of collecting data during peak traffic times such as before and after school and during games.
Kimmel had a bit of advice for anyone who hears her story.
She shared, “Slow down, definitely be aware of your surroundings and you do have a voice, I want to make sure that everybody knows that.”
In addition to highlighting a petition that was put up on change.org, Kimmel called on her classmates and other individuals who heard her speech to join her in reaching out to INDOT to voice their concerns through the Department’s request page.
Biggs commented that as a friend of Richard Kimmel’s from High School and an officer who was notified of his death while on the job, Elle’s call to action had a major impact on him
