Public Safety Officials Meet in Brooklyn Center with Goal of Lowering Traffic Fatalities

Minnesota public safety officials raised concerns Wednesday that speeding on state highways has contributed to the largest number of traffic fatalities in nearly 15 years.

Stakeholders, including traffic engineers and law enforcement, met Wednesday in Brooklyn Center to discuss strategies on how to improve traffic safety. The workshop is called Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths.

“Traffic related deaths have been increasing across the nation so this is something we have to address as a state,” said Kristine Hernandez, one of the organizers  of the workshop.

These officials expected a drop in roadway deaths over the last couple of years due to the pandemic and fewer people being on the roads. Instead, the opposite happened.

“Unfortunately what that did was allow more people on the roadways and going at much higher speeds,” said Hernandez. “So that was probably the most influence to causing those deaths was speeding.”

The group will host four more workshops across the state this month.

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Brooklyn Center