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May 11, 2011

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Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths partnership announces new traffic safety goal

State highlights program success during U.N.’s “Decade of Action for Road Safety”

 

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. —Officials for Minnesota’s Toward Zero Deaths program today announced new traffic safety goals for the state -- 350 or fewer deaths by the end of 2014, as well as 850 or fewer serious injuries in the same year. In 2009, the last full year in which numbers are available, 421 people died on Minnesota roads.


The goal from the Minnesota Departments of Health, Public Safety and Transportation – the core partners in TZD – came as the agencies announced participation in the United Nation’s Decade of Action for Road Safety. That international effort kicks off today to bring global attention to the need to and reduce traffic fatalities around by world by 2020.


The state agencies created the goal after evaluating fatal and serious injury trends, reviewing previous goals and the rate at which the goals were met, and considering recent and on-going traffic safety accomplishments, including passage of the primary seat belt law, successes on ignition interlock and progress on county road safety plans.


“As the UN rolls out the Decade of Action for Road Safety, it’s important to note Minnesota’s leadership and success of the last 10 years,” said Tom Sorel, Mn/DOT Commissioner. “This new TZD goal is a reasonable and attainable traffic safety goal.”
“Our combined efforts have been highly successfully. We have witnessed a dramatic reduction in traffic deaths since the mid-2000s,” says DPS Commissioner Mona Dohman. “But we can and must do better in stopping preventable traffic deaths. Our new goals provide us direction for our future.”


“Traffic safety is an important priority,” said Dr. Ed Ehlinger, Minnesota Commissioner of Health. “Every six seconds, someone is killed or disabled on the world’s roads. We are doing better than that in Minnesota, but a single injury or death is one too many. Every one of those deaths is preventable.”


Since the TZD program was established in 2003, state traffic deaths have dropped 35 percent: 2003 — 655 deaths; 2004 — 567; 2005 — 559; 2006 — 494; 2007 — 510; 2008 — 455; 2009 — 421.


While traffic deaths have decreased, traffic crashes remain the leading cause of death for Minnesotans ages 2–34. In the three-year period 2007–2009, 1,386 people were killed on Minnesota roads at an estimated economic impact of nearly $1.7 billion. Thousands more suffered injuries. Of the 1,386 deaths, one-third were alcohol-related and less than half of the motorists killed were belted.


Officials remind motorists to always buckle up, drive at safe speeds, pay attention, ensure safe routes to school for children and always have a plan for a sober ride to avoid impaired driving. In addition to prevention strategies, Minnesota’s comprehensive trauma system (rapid response, injury triage, transfer and treatment) reduces the risk of death following crashes.


The Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) is the state’s primary traffic safety initiative that is a partnership between DPS, MnDOT, Department of Health, the University of Minnesota and others. A primary vision of the TZD program is to create a safe driving culture in Minnesota in which motorists support a goal of zero road fatalities by practicing and promoting safe and smart driving behavior. TZD focuses on the application of four strategic areas to reduce crashes — education, enforcement, engineering and emergency trauma response.

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