State TZD Initiatives
Minnesota state departments and agencies are taking innovative approaches against the chief causes of traffic-related fatalities and injuries. These include driver inexperience, lack of seat belt use, dangerous intersections, speeding, tailgating, and delayed medical attention after a crash has occurred.
Minnesota Safe Ride Programs
The goal of this Minnesota safe ride program information is to help individuals and communities interesting in starting their own alternative transportation program. Included are case studies, suggestions for getting started, and a printable report and guide.
Minnesota Partnership for Safe Mobility
The Minnesota Partnership for Safe Mobility (MPSM) is a collaborative of public, nonprofit, and educational experts working to influence policy, create initiatives, and promote research that will improve the safety and mobility of Minnesota’s aging population
Minnesota Statewide Trauma System
For the critically injured, the time between the injury’s occurrence and getting emergency care is the most important predictor of survival, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The chance of survival diminishes with time, despite the availability of resources and modern technology. A trauma system, however, betters the chance of survival regardless of nearness to an urban trauma center.
A trauma system is a predetermined, organized, multidisciplinary response to managing the care and treatment of severely injured people. The MDH oversees the statewide trauma system in Minnesota. The system addresses four primary components: trauma hospital designation criteria; trauma registry; EMS/pre-hospital triage and transport guidelines; and hospital-to-hospital transfer guidelines.
Minnesota’s trauma system specifies criteria for treating and transporting seriously injured people and a process by which hospitals can be designated as trauma hospitals. The goal of the statewide system is to have every Minnesota hospital become a trauma hospital.
On average, more than 2,400 Minnesotans die from trauma each year. In 2004, fewer than 30 percent of motor vehicle crashes occurred in rural areas; however, 70 percent of the fatal crashes occurred in these areas.
HEAT Program
When Minnesota raised speed limits on many roadways in 1997, speed trends rose too—and tragically, so did the number of fatalities. The Minnesota Departments of Transportation and Public Safety have initiated a statewide speed management program to put the heat back on drivers. The pilot program is designed to better control speeding, increase safety on state roadways, and remind drivers that the posted speed limit is the speed limit.
The Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic (HEAT) program will blanket about 2,900 miles of road—chosen from the interregional/regional corridor system—with strict enforcement. It also raises limits from 55 to 60 mph on 930 miles of state highway to foster speed consistency. Troopers will target areas where fatalities are overrepresented and work overtime when speeding traffic is heaviest. The State Patrol will analyze data to learn how to schedule better and smarter, and see best how to use resources.
HEAT also includes a statewide public education campaign that includes press releases, public service announcements.
Go to the HEAT Program Web site
Minnesota Strategic Highway Safety Plan
The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Office of Traffic, Safety, and Operations (OTSO) has completed the final draft of Minnesota’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). This new plan was created to comply with requirements of SAFETEA-LU, the most recent federal surface transportation update, and replaces the Comprehensive Highway Safety Plan (CHSP) published in December 2004.
The Minnesota SHSP gives an overview of and coordinates with other safety plans within the state, including the Toward Zero Deaths program and those of the Minnesota Departments of Public Safety and Health. Besides updating strategies contained in the CHSP, the new plan documents initiatives as well as program advances and achievements. The SHSP also provides Mn/DOT districts and Minnesota county highway departments with technical assistance in ranking and deploying safety countermeasures within their jurisdictions based on detailed crash analyses.
Go to the Strategic Highway Safety Plan Web site
Minnesota Crash Mapping Analysis Tool
Developed by the Minnesota Local Road Research Board and Mn/DOT State Aid, the Minnesota Crash Mapping Analysis Tool (MnCMAT) is a software program that helps traffic safety professionals easily map and analyze crash data. Users can select a county or counties for analysis and then narrow the focus by selecting crashes in a specific area. Up to 32 different driver and crash data filters can then be used to analyze various types of crash scenarios. By specifying certain crash attributes, users can analyze crash data and produce maps with plotted crash locations, charts, and automated crash reports based on the crash attributes selected.
The MnCMAT software contains 10 years’ worth of detailed crash data on all roads for all 87 counties in Minnesota, making the software useful in identifying crash trends. MnCMAT will continue to be improved to make it even more user-friendly, and a web-based application is being explored to provide greater access and functionality.