JULY 1, 2010 — State Farm Insurance will partner with the Kansas Turnpike this summer for the State Farm Safety Assist program, re-implementing and expanding the program that helps stranded motorists and makes Turnpike travel safer and easier.

Under the program, two State Farm Safety Assist vehicles will patrol the heavily traveled Kansas City to Topeka corridor. And, for the first time, a unit will patrol the section from Wichita to the Oklahoma border, the Turnpike’s second-busiest stretch. The Safety Assist program will operate from July 1 through Labor Day, Sept. 6.

The sponsorship by State Farm — the largest auto insurer in Kansas and the nation — provides financial resources to help put the assistance program back on the road. From 2000 to 2008, motorist assistance vehicles patrolled the Turnpike, assisting drivers of broken-down vehicles, looking for debris on the road, and helping with accidents or other incidents. Due to the challenging operating environment created by the economy, the program was sidelined in 2008.

“Over the past several years, the Turnpike has put a high priority on reducing operating costs while still providing customers safe, high-quality service,” said Michael Johnston, Turnpike President/CEO. “We appreciate that the State Farm partnership allows the KTA to return Safety Assist to the highway and expand the area where it helps motorists.”

Turnpike employees will patrol in red-and-white State Farm-sponsored vehicles from 6 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and 3 to 7 p.m. Sundays. They help in a number of ways to promote safety on the Turnpike during the busy summer travel season.

In addition to helping individual customers, State Farm Safety Assist is intended to improve safety by clearing congestion from disabled vehicles and free up time that troopers use to perform normal, important law enforcement duties. Reader’s Digest recently named Kansas roads the nation’s best and singled out I-35. With increased summer travel, combined with improvement projects under way in patrol areas, the Safety Assist program can help preserve that safety honor.

Each State Farm Safety Assist unit carries jumper cables, gas cans, floor jacks and other integral tools to help travelers recover from the unexpected. Services will include:

• Providing fuel to get a customer to next service station.
• Watching for and removing debris from the road.
• Helping change flat tires.
• Calling tow trucks.   
• Offering minor mechanical assistance.
• Assisting with traffic direction at accidents and other incidents to clear congestion and lower the risk of dangerous secondary accidents.
• Checking on the welfare of travelers

State Farm is an ideal sponsor as the company, which insures about 1 in 5 cars in Kansas,...