The Minnesota Department of Traffic Safety through its Toward Zero Deaths initiative has a goal of reducing the number of fatalities on state roads to 350 this year. The goal is in reach.

The death of 31-year-old Renee Hallberg of Monticello on Thursday brought the total for 2014 to 304, or 21 fewer than at this time last year. In total, 387 people died in traffic crashes on state roads in 2013. Hallberg was taking the ramp from Hwy. 15 to eastbound I-94 near St. Cloud around 7:30 p.m. when she drifted off the road. Hallberg struck a guardrail and overpass pillar before veering off the road, the State Patrol said.

Today marks the second and final day of the annual Toward Zero Deaths conference in Duluth. More than 800 traffic safety advocates, including law enforcement officers, emergency medical and trauma service providers, traffic engineers and public health officials are in attendance.

The two-day conference at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center is billed as a forum for sharing information on best practices in engineering, enforcement, education, and emergency medical/health services and for identifying new approaches to reducing the number of traffic fatalities and life-changing injuries on Minnesota roads. It is coordinated by the state departments of Public Safety, Transportation, and Health.

TZD was started in 2003, a year in which the state recorded 657 deaths on the roads. Since then, the number of fatalities has dropped 41 percent to under 400. The high-water mark was 1,060 deaths in 1968.

Among the leading causes of crashes are driver distraction, speeding and alcohol.

Here are crash numbers from the past decade as provided by the DPS:

  • 2003 – 655
  • 2004 – 567
  • 2005 – 559
  • 2006 – 494
  • 2007 – 510
  • 2008 – 455
  • 2009 – 421
  • 2010 – 411
  • 2011 – 368
  • 2012 – 395
  • 2013 – 387