About Toward Zero Deaths
Toward Zero Deaths is an interagency partnership that includes representatives from the Minnesota Departments of Transportation, Public Safety, and Health; Minnesota State Patrol; Federal Highway Administration; and the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota.
Mission, Goals, Values
Our mission is "to create a culture for which traffic fatalities and serious injuries are no longer acceptable through the integrated application of education, engineering, enforcement, and emergency medical and trauma services. These efforts will be driven by data, best practices, and research."
TZD Goals
- Establish the vision of TZD as a priority for all state and local agencies and units of government
- Create and strengthen traffic safety partnerships
- Promote and implement effective traffic safety initiatives
TZD Values
- Continuous improvement
- Engaged partners
- Evidence-based approaches
TZD Strategic Direction
Strategic Direction is a colorful, one-page handout that presents the Toward Zero Deaths program's mission, vision, goals, and values. The document can be downloaded and used to explain and gain support for the program's efforts.
Download Strategic Direction (650 KB PDF)
Recognition for TZD
2010 APWA Exceptional Performance Award
TZD was named a recipient of the 2010 Exceptional Performance Award by the American Public Works Association (APWA). This award was given for TZD's outstanding contributions in the areas of safety and public awareness.
- View TZD's award application (4.83 MB PDF)
2009 IRF Global Road Achievement Award
The International Road Federation (IRF) presented TZD with the 2009 Global Road Achievement Award for Safety, which recognizes significant contributions to improving road safety by devising concepts, products, processes, or systems in relation to road infrastructure, road/vehicle interaction, and driver behavior.
Annual TZD Awards
Each year the TZD program gives awards to recognize excellence in enforcement, emergency medical services, education, engineering, child passenger safety, and the media. In addition, the first Kathy Swanson Award for Outstanding Public Service was presented at the 2008 TZD Conference.
Getting Involved
The TZD Program Team is actively looking for more communities to participate in the program. TZD is a cooperative program, building partnerships between community groups and state agencies. The first step in getting involved with Toward Zero Deaths is to organize a local coalition. Coalition groups typically include public works professionals, local government officials, business or professional organizations, and individual residents who want to make a difference.
History
Since the 1990s, the Minnesota Departments of Public Safety and Transportation have worked together to find better solutions to the problem of serious injuries and fatal crashes on Minnesota roadways.
In 2001, the North Star Safety Workshop brought together experts from many Minnesota research organizations and state agencies — as well as presenters from Washington, Sweden, and Australia — to share information.
The Toward Zero Deaths program developed out of the momentum created by the North Star workshop. The members of the TZD program team realized that moving toward a goal of zero deaths would require cooperation among state agencies, as well as a way to build connections between state agencies and local organizations.
How the Program Works
The program team works in partnership with community and corridor groups to improve the traffic safety of a designated area. Toward Zero Deaths provides technical assistance, materials, and guidance to the local groups that are committed to reducing crashes and the fatalities and severe injuries that result from them.
Statewide, the Toward Zero Deaths program is examining new technologies to help address safety concerns. These include finding short-term, lower-cost alternatives to traditional engineering solutions, which can be cost prohibitive or take too long to complete. But engineering is not the only focus of the state program.
By combining forces with new and existing efforts across the state, the TZD program team is gathering information for use by the local groups. Information is available on a variety of topics covering each of the "four Es" of traffic safety: engineering, emergency medical services, enforcement, and education.
Other TZD Efforts
The "zero deaths" concept was first adopted in Sweden in 1997 as "Vision Zero," and since then has evolved to several state DOTs that have identified zero deaths as a core objective in their Strategic Highway Safety Plans. In addition to Minnesota, the states include Utah, Washington, Oregon, West Virginia. Alabama, Idaho, Maryland, and Vermont.
The American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) published "Toward Zero Deaths, A Vision for Safer Roads in America," available on the ATSSA Web site.
Another useful resource is a 2007 publication by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Improving Traffic Safety Culture in the United States The Journey Forward (PDF).