Few programs have such clarity in their name and goal as Minnesota’s Toward Zero Deaths.
A local effort to establish a coalition within the TZD program, along with the addition of center-line rumble strips on 69 miles of U.S. Highway 53, will work toward that goal in Borderland.
A number of factors, however, work against that goal in the northeastern region. Those include alcohol, distraction, speed and lack of seatbelt use.
The program encourages creating a culture that no longer accepts traffic fatalities and serious injuries by employing the four Es — enforcement, engineering, education, and emergency medical and trauma services — to work toward the goal.
The addition of the rumble strips is a good example of the engineering component of the program.
Locally, a coalition is being established to promote safe driving practices. Sheriff Brian Jespersen and Nancy Lee of Koochiching County Public Health Department will soon begin considering who should serve on the coalition and Jespersen is expected to seek a grant to fund its efforts.
Those efforts could involve workshops on safe driving, safety programs brought to work places and training for local alcohol servers, among others.
But it will take all of us to accomplish zero deaths on our roadways. And that means that parents must get involved in the driving habits of their children, friends must help remind one another to practice their best driving skills at all times, and alcohol servers must use established practices to recognize when someone is impaired.
We, as a community, must truly work to change our culture, a culture that now appears to accept some traffic accidents. The culture we must strive for should not accept that accidents just happen. Accidents, as well as injuries and deaths, can be avoided by paying attention to only driving when behind the wheel, reducing speeds, avoiding alcohol and buckling up.
