Austin Sculpture Dramatically Illustrates Need To Buckle Up

AUSTIN, TX — Transportation officials recently kicked off this year's "Click It or Ticket" campaign in dramatic fashion with a sculpture depicting a car in mid-air prior to impact installed in downtown Austin.

Titled "Kailee's Crash," the gripping sculpture unveiled May 1 at Republic Square Park, 422 Guadalupe St., doubles as frozen-in-air reenactment of a car wreck that claimed the life 16-year-old Kailee Mills on Oct. 28, 2017. The teen removed her seat belt for just a brief moment to take a selfie, and was killed when the car in which she traveled crashed. Her friends, who were wearing their seat belts prior to the wreck, sustained minor injuries.

Kailee's parents, David and Wendy Mills, were on hand to unveil the sculpture — a way of coping with their grief while helping to prevent more deaths for lack of seat belt use. The pain on both parents' was palpable as they took to the lectern, with Kailee's dad mustering the strength to address those gathered between pauses as he fought back tears in remembering the daughter he unexpectedly lost in a mere instant.

David Mills (in gray suit) and his wife, Wendy Mills, to his left were on hand earlier this month to unveil sculpture reenacting the crash that killed their daughter two years ago. Photo by Tony Cantú/Patch staff.

David Mills recounted his family's tragedy, saying she was returning from a Halloween party when she decided to slide to the back seat of the vehicle for a selfie. "In the blink of an eye, our 16-year-old daughter was gone," the still-grieving father said. "They were only a few blocks away from home when the car veered off the road. Wendy and I couldn't believe she had taken her seat belt off; she always wore it."

He spoke of the unexpected loss of their daughter: "You hear stories all the time how people in your neighborhood are killed in crashes or not wearing their seat belts, but we never thought it would happen to us, to our precious daughter."

Now, the parents are left to wonder what might have become of the daughter they called their "ray of sunshine" — an honors student with a 4.3 grade point average at her high school in Spring, Texas, who dreamed of one day of becoming doctor. Kailee would have graduated one month from the day of the sculpture unveiling, her father said.

"We'll never get to see her walk across that graduation stage to collect her diploma," he said. "We're never going to see how many people she could have helped as a doctor."He urged people to wear their seat belts to avoid ticket citations or worse, adding he wished he could simply pay a fine to bring his daughter back.

Also on hand at the campaign kickoff was Eden Ganzerla, who was severely injured in a 2016 crash during which she was not wearing a seat belt. As a result, Ganzerla is now confined to a wheelchair. Like Kailee's parents, she also has taken on the cause of reminding others to wear their seat belts. Last year, transportation officials said, she collaborated with the TxDOT Austin District on the "Buckle Up" campaign.

Police officers gathered to help kick off this year's "Click It Or Ticket" campaign at the sculpture unveiling. Photo by Tony Cantú/Patch staff.

While 92 percent of Texans do buckle up, those who didn’t made up 43 percent of crash fatalities in 2018, TxDot officials said in a press advisory. Last year, there were 27 motor vehicle traffic crashes in Austin in which unrestrained occupants sustained fatal or serious injuries that resulted in 9 fatalities and 23 serious injuries, officials said. Statewide, officials added, 982 people died in crashes while not seat belts — a 6 percent increase over 2017.

To mitigate the toll of injuries and deaths, law officers statewide will bolster enforcement of the state’s seat belt laws between May 20 and June 2.

During the heightened enforcement period this year, state troopers in Austin and San Antonio will hand drivers a card sharing Ganzerla's story as they issue citations to further promote seat belt use, according to TxDot. Texas law requires everyone in a vehicle to be properly buckled up or face fines and fees up to $200. "Buckle up for your family, for your friends, for your future," TxDot officials plead with the public.

About the Click It Or Ticket campaign

The Click It or Ticket campaign is a key component of #EndTheStreakTX, a broader grassroots effort that encourages drivers to make safer choices while behind the wheel. Since Nov. 8, 2000, at least one person has died on Texas roadways every single day. #EndTheStreakTX asks all Texans to commit to driving safely to help end the streak of daily deaths on state roadways.