Roseau and Red Lake among 14% of Minnesota counties with zero 2023 traffic-related deaths

Apr. 30—GRAND FORKS — Since Minnesota implemented its Toward Zero Deaths program in 2003, the state's traffic-related deaths have decreased by 37%. The program coordinator, though, believes work is far from over.

"Our goal is zero," Kristine Hernandez said. "We had two counties in northwest Minnesota that had zero fatalities last year — we highlight our wins, but we all want zeroes to be the goal."

Roseau and Red Lake were two of the 12 Minnesota counties (13.79%) with zero traffic-related deaths in 2023. With 87 counties in the state, 75 of them (86.21%) had at least one traffic-related death.

Toward Zero Deaths is a national strategy that focuses on highway safety with the goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries. The "zero deaths" idea was first adopted by Sweden in the late 1990s, according to the Minnesota TZD. It has been implemented in various state transportation departments throughout the U.S., including Minnesota and North Dakota.

There were 414 traffic fatalities in the state last year, and 95 so far in 2024, according to Minnesota TZD preliminary data. In North Dakota, there were 106 fatalities in 2023 and — as of March 28 — 15 this year, according to Vision Zero.

In the two decades since Minnesota established its own TZD program, some issues have been nearly eliminated, Hernandez said. Some advancements were made through changes to instracture, such as creating barriers and redirecting traffic.

Cable median barriers have been erected on many highways that were experiencing high rates of head-on crashes, she said.

"They wreck your car if you hit them, but the flip side is, you're not hitting another motorist — because those are very deadly, impactful crashes," Hernandez said. "So that was huge."

Another change was closing some median crossovers in four-lane highways, forcing motorists who want to enter the highway from a county road to go around, rather than crossing straight through four lanes of traffic, Hernandez said.

"If you get hit on the side of your car, on the driver's side, it's not going to have a good outcome, either," she said. "So we've virtually eliminated that by eliminating people trying to make it across four lanes, because you don't know exactly how fast the other person's coming at you — especially if they're speeding."

Though Hernandez believes progress has been made, conversations continue on how to improve safety — and more people are being brought in for those conversations. Though a number of agencies are involved in traffic safety, they operated largely independently for quite some time, she said.

"What we've tried to do with TZD is break down our silos," Hernandez said.

Bringing in new perspectives and sharing insight from across agencies reveals new solutions, she said. When the Minnesota Department of Transportation was putting in cable medians, a law enforcement perspective allowed the agency to realize there should be gaps for state patrol to utilize when they need to turn around quickly.

"That reduces their reaction time if they need to go to a crash, or to a hospital," Hernandez said.

Conversations take place on small and larger scales. A large-scale method TZD has to bring what Hernandez calls "traffic safety stakeholders" together is by hosting workshops through the state.

The first of seven scheduled for this year was held on Tuesday, April 23, in Thief River Falls. There were approximately 80 such stakeholders in attendance, Hernandez said.

One major topic highlighted at the workshop was ATV/UTV safety, which has become a larger concern in the state because, as of Thursday, April 25, the amount of related deaths this year has already matched 2023's total.

There have been eight ATV/UTV traffic fatalities in 2024 so far; there were eight throughout all of last year.

One concern is that people don't recognize the potential dangers of off-road vehicle use,

often allowing their children to operate the vehicles while unattended, without proper gear or training.

"People kind of use ATVs as an electronic babysitter," Hernandez said.

Helmets need to be DOT-sanctioned for ATV/UTV use; bicycle helmets do not count. Additionally, children have to be fitted for the vehicle. If they're using the same one their guardians use, it's likely too big for them.

Hernandez advises that, when children are driving ATVs and UTVs, their guardians should be monitoring them. They cannot drive on a roadway without a driver's license, and specific UTV/ATV training is recommended as well, she said.