2023 Southeast Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths Workshop
May 3, 2023
7333 Airport View Drive SW
Rochester, MN
About the Workshop
This annual workshop helps facilitate Minnesota TZD's goal of creating a collaborative, comprehensive, and regional approach to reducing traffic deaths and severe injuries.
Workshop Presentations
Crash Data Presentation: What’s the Data Telling Us?
Speaker: Mark Wagner, Assistant State Traffic Safety Engineer, MnDOT Office of Traffic Engineering
Recent trends in traffic fatalities and serious injuries statewide are concerning. Are there certain crash types that have contributed to this rise? Were the past years a brief spike or are we seeing a new trajectory? Review regional crash trends with an eye towards the Strategic Highway Safety Plan and potential opportunities for future strategies.
Using Fatal Reviews and the Safe System Approach to Improve Intersection Safety
Speakers: David Tsang, Traffic Operations Engineer, MnDOT District 6; and Jessica Schleck, Southeast Minnesota TZD Regional Coordinator
What is a Fatal and Serious Injury Crash Review Committee? Learn the purpose of the committee and the important roles that law enforcement, EMS, health educators and engineers have on the committee. As we continue our efforts into the Safe System approach, hear about the construction projects in southeast Minnesota that are saving lives.
School Bus Stop Arm Camera Grant Program
Speakers: Rahya Geisler, Program Coordinator, Deptartment of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety; Lt. Brian Reu, Minnesota State Patrol; and Deputy J.J. Mueller, Mower County Sheriff’s Office
School bus stop arm cameras have been installed in school buses across the region to keep students safe as they get on and off them. The cameras provided through the project help schools and law enforcement find the violators and hold them accountable. Hear how the program works, along with the successes and challenges.
Teaching Traffic Safety through Science
Speaker: Cindy Morgan, Public Engagement Coordinator, MnDOT District 6
MnDOT has partnered with TZD to teach traffic safety through science! This program uses the seat belt convincer to introduce the physics behind the crash. The newly developed curriculum explains how speed affects the force of a crash and demonstrates how seat belts save lives. This new program will be piloted this spring in high school physics classes in the region.
Focusing on What Matters
Speaker: Amber Peterson, Managing Partner, Peterson & Perme Associates
Quite often, people feel overly impacted by their environment and helpless to change what’s going on in their own mind. Yet, our mindset (attitude and beliefs) is greatly impacted by what we choose to focus on. Who do we surround ourselves with? What is important that we should focus our energy? What boundaries should we hold around our values? This session guided participants to examine what they are focusing on in their lives, decide if it’s what they truly want, and empower them to make the changes they see they need to live a more fulfilled and satisfied life.
Cannabis DWIs... They’re Not So Simple
Speaker: Sgt. Tyler Milless, DRE coordinator, Minnesota State Patrol
With the constant rise in cannabis in Minnesota, and the potential of legalization, it is important to know how to detect cannabis-induced impairment. This session will take you through the cannabis plant and take a dive into what it does to the human body. You will learn specific things to look for when detecting someone who is impaired by cannabis.
Workshop Goals
- Encourage traffic safety as a priority for policymakers
- Provide information on traffic safety issues in Southeast Minnesota
- Provide a method to bring traffic safety programs into your community
- Spread successes of the Southeast Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths program
- Network with other traffic safety advocates
Who Should Attend
Community law enforcement, engineers, educators, emergency medical services, local policymakers, judges, attorneys, and other traffic safety advocates.
Workshop Sponsors
- Southeast Minnesota TZD Program
- Minnesota Department of Public Safety
- Minnesota Department of Transportation, Office of Traffic Engineering and District 6
- Minnesota Department of Health
- Minnesota State Patrol
More Information
With questions, please contact Jessica Schleck, Southeast TZD Regional Coordinator, at Jessica.Schleck@state.mn.us or 507-286-7602.