PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 8, 2016
Mom spreads message of safety behind wheel
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Theresa Potts knows what it
is like to have a teenage son get
into a serious accident.
As such, she has a message
for young drivers.
“Slow down,” Theresa said.
“Life is too short. You’ll get
there when you get there. And
know your road conditions.
When it rains, slow down.
There will be oils on the road,
especially if it is raining a lot.”
On Feb. 19, Theresa’s son
Keven, who had turned 17 the
day before, was driving to golf
practice at Willow Lake Golf
Center on Windsor Island Road
with West Salem High School
teammate Connor Campbell.
Keven’s 1992 Toyota Camry
left the road and slammed into
a tree. Keven suffered a couple
of broken toes on his left foot,
a chipped bone in his right arm
and a slight concussion. Con-
nor’s injuries were more serious,
requiring a longer hospital stay.
He was cleared to go back to
school just before spring break.
“There was a lot of water on
the road,” Theresa said. “Keven
said it was raining at the time,
just really nasty out. He hydro-
planed. Keven said he reached
for the emergency brake be-
cause he was sliding towards the
tree on Connor’s side and was
trying to make it hit more on
his side. The car hit the tree and
then slid around the tree.”
Theresa said Keven, who did
not want to talk to the Keiz-
ertimes about the accident, has
gotten stern talking-tos from
his girlfriend’s mom, Campbell’s
mom, Sgt. David LeDay with
the Keizer Police Department
and others.
“He has gotten some fl ack
at school,” Theresa said. “He
tells people he didn’t do it on
purpose. Your self-esteem and
confi dence take a hit. He’s still
trying to get a lot of trust back
from people. Some are ques-
tioning if we should let him
drive around. He’s had to ex-
plain himself quite a bit.”
LeDay talked of inexperi-
ence.
“Most young drivers don’t
focus on an escape route,” Le-
Day said. “You have to look for
your escape route, not at the
hazard. Most drivers fi nd that
out later in their driving careers.
We also had a heavy downpour
that day, with standing water on
the roadway. Most young driv-
ers don’t adjust for those con-
ditions and think it is still okay
to go 45 (mph) in those con-
ditions. You have to slow down
for that environment and adjust
for the conditions.”
Theresa was fi ne with Le-
Day’s sternness.
“Sgt. LeDay was blunt,
which I appreciated,” she said.
“There was some inexperience
involved. All kids need to think
that sometimes conditions don’t
mean you drive the speed limit,
especially on country roads. Yes,
the tree is too close to the road
there, but it is a country road.”
Theresa said two other class-
mates were following.
“One of his friends called me
and said Keven was okay but in
an accident,” Theresa said. “My
heart jumped up. They were
cutting Keven out of the car. I
beat the ambulance to Salem
Hospital. It was gnarly accident.
Connor got out fi rst, but they
told him to sit back down.”
Theresa said her son wasn’t
going above the speed limit or
being distracted by a cell phone.
“He said it was an acci-
dent,” Theresa said. “He wasn’t
speeding, they weren’t playing
around.”
Theresa said driver’s edu-
cation classes like the one she
took in high school would help
today’s young drivers.
“Kids think they are invin-
cible,” she said. “You need to
concentrate on what you’re do-
ing. Don’t do too many things.
Even if kids do the bookwork
for driver’s ed, they need more
input and lessons taught about
how to drive and what to look
for.”
Theresa said her son is strug-
gling to recover mentally from
the crash.
“Keven is still trying to get
past the accident,” she said. “He
doesn’t really want to drive
right now.”
DISPLAY,
continued from Page A2
could be accommodated.
“They will share space?”
Lore Christopher asked.
Brown said details hadn’t
quite been fi gured out yet.
“I have some angst about
how they would work togeth-
er,” Brown said. “The prob-
lem is the north gallery (along
Chemawa Road) gets much
less traffi c.”
KPAC chair Beth Melendy
jokingly offered a solution.
“They’d have to draw
straws,” she joked.
Brown said the two art-
ists have about 15 pieces each,
mostly large pieces.
“I make a motion we accept
both of these artists and let
Nate work it out with them,”
Christopher said. “Let one
have one gallery, the other can
take the other.”
The motion was approved.
In other recent KPAC busi-
ness:
• Rick Day has talked about
selling prints of the mural, both
limited edition pieces as well as
posters, at the last few meet-
ings. He fi gures those buying a
portrait spot for $200 (as de-
tailed in last week’s Keizertimes)
might want to buy a print as
well.
“Say a local family is hon-
ored,” Day said. “They could
have one print at home and
one at their business. Maybe
we could create fi ve or six
extras. There is the potential
to have one original, with 16
copies or editions.”
Melendy liked the idea of
having a lower cost offering as
well.
“I still like the cheap option,
like a photograph,” she said.
Day nodded in agreement.
“It could be a long hori-
zontal piece, like the mural
wall itself,” he said.
As envisioned by Day, the
16 editions could be $200 each
while 40 posters could go for
$20 each.
• Christopher wants to up
the amount KPAC asks the
budget committee for during
the upcoming budget season.
“We’ve asked for $1,000 the
last two years,” she said. “I’m
proposing we put in a request
for $3,000.”
catching.” In an e-mail sent
to Brown late on March 17,
Burkhardt estimated he could
hang 12 large pieces, with his
largest being 48 inches by 32
inches.
KPAC members had ques-
tions about how both artists
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