Dear Mr. Deery My name is Sherlyn Towles, and I am a community member from the Clinton, Indiana area reaching out on behalf of the families, students, and community members connected to Riverton Parke High School in Montezuma. On a recent date, a young man named Chase Edward Bennett lost his life in a fatal crash on State Road 163 between Clinton and Lyford, Indiana. Chase was a Riverton Parke student. SR 163 is the only direct road connecting Clinton, where Chase lived, to Riverton Parke High School, where he attended. Our children have no alternative route. The crash site sits adjacent to a ravine. There are no guardrails at this location. Chase’s vehicle entered the ravine and struck trees — impacts that guardrails are specifically designed to prevent or mitigate. He did not survive. I contacted INDOT and requested a safety review of this site. INDOT responded that they do not plan to install guardrails at this time, citing limited crash history. However, their own response acknowledged that the existing shoulders on SR 163 do not meet current FHWA/INDOT design standards. This road is already out of compliance. Our community is being asked to wait for a future reconstruction with no defined timeline — while our children travel this road every single day. We have launched a community petition calling for immediate action, and it is gaining significant support from students, parents, and community members across the Riverton Parke and Clinton areas. I am respectfully requesting that you: 1. Contact INDOT on behalf of our community and urge an immediate reassessment of the SR 163 guardrail site between Clinton and Lyford 2. Push for emergency safety improvements at this specific location given the documented ravine hazard 3. Request that INDOT accelerate the reconstruction of SR 163 to bring it into compliance with current design standards 4. Meet with our community — we would welcome the opportunity to speak with you directly No family should lose a child to a road that is already known to be out of compliance. Chase Edward Bennett deserved to come home. So does every student who drives that road today. Thank you for your time and for your service to our community. I look forward to hearing from you. Respectfully, Sherlyn Towles