Learn how Michigan’s “Safer by 2030” campaign and collaborative efforts aim to reduce roadway fatalities through education, enforcement, and community engagement and will lead to safer roads.
Key Takeaways:
- Innovative strategies, partnerships, and goals are key to deterring unsafe driving and reaching an aggressive goal of achieving zero roadway fatalities.
- Initiatives like “Just Drive” and behavioral safety programs can address and correct dangerous driving behaviors to promote safer roads.
- Parents can shape future drivers by modeling safe driving and teaching essential road safety practices.
In a panel conversation with Steve Kieffer, the Kieffer Foundation’s Founder, and Katie Bower, Michigan’s Office of Highway Safety Planning Director, spoke of how Michigan can achieve its goal of reducing roadway fatalities to “Zero by 2050” through interim goals with achievable initiatives and the measures to adjust drivers’ behaviors to achieve this goal.
The Kiefer Foundation’s Vision of Safer Roads
Kieffer opened the conversation by sharing his personal tragedy of losing his son to a distracted driving accident and the foundation’s mission to end distracted driving and related traffic fatalities.
“We tell these painful stories because we’re trying to connect with all of you,” he said. “What you need to understand is nothing bad ever happened to our family until this happened. And this can be your family today. This can be your family tomorrow.”
Through this tragedy, he founded the Kieffer Foundation, which focuses on three pillars to lead to safer roads: awareness, policy, and technology. This includes “Just Drive,” the foundation’s program advocating for hands-free driving laws nationwide, leveraging technology such as safe driving apps and VR-based simulators to raise awareness and better educate drivers.
Related: The Journey Through Legislation to Reduce Distracted Driving in Michigan
Kieffer found that reversing the rising trend of road deaths through actionable, collaborative steps is possible. With these findings, he and his foundation pitched this as an interim goal to Michigan’s goal of “Zero by 2050.”
The State’s Role
Regarding the state’s involvement in creating safer roads, Bauer discussed the “Safer by 2030” campaign and how her department can facilitate it. She oversees federally funded programs focused on behavioral safety initiatives, such as law enforcement activities targeting distracted driving, impaired driving, speeding, and other key issues. As the Governor’s Traffic Safety Advisory Commission Chair, she collaborates with high-level state agencies and organizations to promote safer roads.
The Safer by 2030 campaign, proposed by Kieffer and embraced by the Commission, aims to reduce traffic fatalities in Michigan by 30% by 2030, using 2023 as a benchmark when approximately 1,095 lives were lost.
Bauer said of those roadway fatalities in 2023, “That’s a lot of impact. Every single one of those people had lives. They had families, they have friends, they had coworkers, and they’ve all been severely impacted.”
Bauer emphasized that with a reduced police presence and engagement during and post-pandemic, there has been an uptick in unsafe driving behaviors, but that collective action and a stronger sense of community are needed to correct these behaviors.
The Collaborative Approach to Safer Roads
Kieffer and Bauer shared that the strategies to reach these goals include education, enforcement, and collaboration for the ambitious vision of a “Road to Zero.” This includes educational efforts focusing on influencing driver behavior through strengthening awareness in the following areas: distracted and impaired driving, speed enforcement, teen driving, school bus safety, and aging drivers.
To do so, Bauer noted that law enforcement remains a critical tool for deterring unsafe behaviors, with targeted enforcement funded to address specific issues like distracted driving. In addition, Kieffer noted that collaboration is vital to this effort, with public and private partnerships to create a unified strategy and instill lifelong safe driving habits.
Drivers, especially parents and guardians, have a unique opportunity to shape the next generation by modeling safe behaviors and teaching young passengers the importance of wearing seatbelts, avoiding distractions, and following traffic laws. These efforts are critical as every life lost represents a devastating impact on families and communities, underscoring the urgency for systemic improvements.