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| Dates, times and
places of upcoming panels. |
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| Minnesotans For
Safe Driving has a crash car program designed to enlighten
the public. |
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| Notes from our
director on important information, and the direction of Minnesotans
for Safe Driving. |
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| What is happening
in the halls of Minnesota's Governing body! |
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| MFSD volunteer
news and opportunities. |
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| MFSD Members care
about what is happening on our roadways. Join MFSD Today! |
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Check Out
Court Cases in Your Neighborhood
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Hennepin County Attorney's
web site publishes information on some of the criminal cases
pending in our courts today. Check it out...
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How do drugs affect driving?
Whether
prescription, over the counter or illegal drugs,
they can impair driving skills including vision,
reaction time, judgment, hearing, and simultaneous
task processing/accomplishments. Driving requires
other cognitive skills such as information
processing and psychomotor skills, which may also be
impaired by the use of drugs. When drugs are mixed
with alcohol, the results can be devastating.
Alcohol
alters the mind, affects thinking, judgment, slows
reaction time and interferes with coordination.
Tasks requiring divided attention are most sensitive
to alcohol effects. The more a person drinks the
more likely that person is to drive. Alcohol and
other drug involvement are much more likely in
nighttime crashes.
Marijuana is also mind altering. Thinking
and reflexes are slowed, causing difficulty in
responding to sudden unexpected events. A driver’s
ability to “track” or stay in his lane, to brake
quickly, and to maintain the correct distance
between cars is affected.
Cocaine is a brain stimulant that causes anxiety,
delusions, seizures, and lack of concentration, memory
problems and blackouts. There is an increase in impulsive
behavior with tendencies to take more risks and create
confusion within the user. A person using cocaine maintains
the illusions of being alert and stimulated although
physical reactions are impaired. The most dramatic effects
of cocaine and driving are on vision. Cocaine may cause
higher sensitively to light, halos around bright objects,
and difficulty focusing.
Tranquilizers and Barbiturates are
particularly dangerous in conjunction with alcohol because
the mixture increases the accident risk beyond that found
with anyone on drugs alone. Particularly strong is the
interaction between alcohol and diazepam (Valium).
Over the counter medications Alcohol can enhance
some of the dangerous side effects of the medications so to
make driving dangerous. Most drugs for colds, hay fever,
allergy, or to calm nerves can make a person drowsy when
alcohol is consumed.
With stimulant-based drugs, a driver would actually
feel that they were a better driver while they were under
its influence, but they would become much more likely to
drive recklessly and dangerously.
With depressant-based drugs, the driver would lose any real
anxiety about the dangers on the road and would not be able
to react quickly to changing driving conditions.
With hallucinogenic drugs reaction time will be
altered and the driver’s ability to operate the vehicle will
become erratic.
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July DWI Enforcement Sweep
Across the State
Drunk Driving -- Over the Limit.
Under Arrest
The month of July will not be the
time to drink and drive in Minnesota. This statewide
enhanced impaired driving sweep is being administered by
Department of Public Safety (DPS) and will include
around 400 law enforcement agencies patrolling extra
hours across the state. Since seatbelt use is lower on
people involved in alcohol related crashes, officers
will include belt enforcement in their sweep. The July
enforcement will be accompanied by TV, radio, online and
outdoor paid media.
July is one of the
deadliest months for alcohol-related crashes. Over the
last three years in Minnesota (2004-2006), 540 motorists
were killed in alcohol –related crashes and more than
10,000 were arrested for DWI. In all, 500,395 Minnesota
motorists have a DWI – one in eight with a driver’s
record.
Supporting the campaign is
www.minnesotasafeandsober.org a new DPS
website that allows visitors to send friends an
electronic “Designated Driver Gift Certificate” to offer
a safe ride for a night out. The card asks the recipient
to return the favor. |
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DWI Enforcer All-Star Team
The
Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently named their
first ever ‘DWI Enforcer All Star Team” comprised of 32
officers, deputies and troopers that lead the state in
DWI arrests in 2007. These officers are “heavy hitters”
when it comes to doing their job.
Greater Minnesota DWI Enforcer All-Stars
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Officer Yemahne
Berhane, Rochester PD — 74
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Officer Tiffany
Blaschko, Mankato Department of Public Safety — 36
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Trooper Bradley
Bordwell, Minnesota State Patrol — 43
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Officer Brian
Martin, Mankato Department of Public Safety — 51
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Deputy Geoff Dowty,
Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office — 109
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Officer Todd
Erickson, Elk River PD — 76
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Officer John
Fritz, St. Cloud PD — 46
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Trooper Mark
Hopkins, Minnesota State Patrol — 41
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Officer Justin
Hunt, Faribault PD — 56
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Officer Scott
Kostohyrz, Moorhead PD — 64
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Deputy Charles
Lahman, Cass County Sheriff’s Office — 56
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Officer Joe
Miketin, Hermantown PD — 39
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Officer Andy
Morgan, Grand Rapids PD — 35
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Officer Cory
Schmitz, New Prague PD — 41
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Officer Joseph
Swenson, Lake Crystal PD — 17
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Deputy Scott
Wolfe, Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office — 35
Metro DWI Enforcer All-Stars
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Trooper Adam Flynn, Minnesota State
Patrol — 208
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Officer Richard Gabler, Brooklyn
Center — 57
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Officer Todd Groves, Eden Prairie PD
— 63
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Officer Josh Hunter, Corcoran PD — 45
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Officer Joel Horazuk, Apple Valley PD
— 49
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Officer Adam Jacobson, Coon Rapids PD
— 113
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Trooper Kyle Klawiter, Minnesota
State Patrol — 196
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Officer John Kolar, Shakopee PD — 54
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Officer Scott Langner, Maplewood PD —
82
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Officer Nicki Marquardt, Shakopee PD
— 67
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Officer Justin Parranto, Inver Grove
Heights PD — 69
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Deputy Tim Samuelson, Dakota County
Sheriff’s Office — 50
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Officer Fran Schmitz, Woodbury PD —
86
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Officer Richard Schwab, South St.
Paul PD — 86
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Officer Darcy White, Prior Lake PD —
63
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Officer Steve Wuorinen, Minneapolis
PD — 60
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Sharon
Gehrman-Driscoll, volunteer director for MSD,
receives the prestigious Forst Lowery Award
from the Minnesota Criminal Justice DWI Task Force. This
award is given annually to an individual who the Task
Force identifies as having made major contributions to
traffic safety in Minnesota in the area of reducing the
incidence of impaired driving on our state’s roads and
highways. Sharon received this award for her 20 plus
years of fighting to get “the drunks off the roads” to
make driving safer for everyone. Sharon has worked
closely with the media to keep the dangers of drunk
driving in front of the public, and she was a lead
person in getting felony drunk driving the law in
Minnesota. Throughout the years she has initiated many
programs to change attitudes to both the offenders and
the general public of the dangers of drunk driving. One
very successful program is the Driving Impact Panels
provided to traffic offenders and driver education
students.
The Forst
Lowery award was created in his honor. Mr. Lowery, was
involved in alcohol related traffic safety issues in
Minnesota courts and the Dept. of Public Safety in the
1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. He was an outspoken advocate
calling for increased resources and attention to be
given to drunk and impaired driving in Minnesota before
it was a popular thing to do. He was one of the key
people involved in instituting ASAP, Alcohol Safety
Action Program, in Minnesota. This was one of the first
state-wide programs that included increased DWI arrests
and expanded treatment opportunities thru the court
system. He was one of the first traffic safety advocates
to call for a designated tax on alcohol to fund DWI
enforcement, prosecution, adjudication and treatment.
Previous recipients, Forst
Lowery (posthumously), Senators. Ann Rest, Alan Spear
and Leo Foley, Karen Sprattler, Eldon Ukestad, Jay
Swanson, Kathy Swanson, and Joel Watne. |
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| Adult / Teen Driving Impact Panels
and volunteer opportunities
call 952-238-0970
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Graduated Driver License
System Passed in Minnesota
Minnesotans For Safe Driving’s main legislative
initiative finally passed the Legislature after 6 years
of trying. This law will become effective August 1,
2008. A newly licensed driver ages 16 and 17 will have
some restrictions to their driving for the first year of
driving on their provisional license. During the first
six months the new licensee cannot operate a vehicle
carrying more than one passenger under age 20 who is not
a member of their immediate family. That increases to
three passengers for the second 6 months.
Also during
the first six months of provisional licensure, a person
under age 18 is prohibited from driving between midnight
and 5 a.m., except when the driver is driving due to a
job; or the driver is accompanied by a licensed driver
or state identification card holder who is at least age
25. (for more information about Graduated Driver
License, go to our legislative section and click on
Graduated Driver License)
Minnesotans For Safe Driving would like to thank the two
authors of this bill, Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing)
and Rep. Kim Norton (DFL –Rochester). We would also like
to thank Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Mpls) and Rep.
Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) for all of their
support on making sure that this bill made it through
committee and the floor.
Also passing the
legislature was a bill to make illegal for anyone to
TEXT MESSAGE when their vehicle is in motion or a
part of traffic. Effective August 1, 2008 |
Volunteers Help Make Minnesota Roads
Safer!
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SPECIAL
THANKS!
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To Ecreativeworks for their continuing support of our
organization by donating server space for the hosting
of the Minnesotans for safe driving web site.
www.ecreativeworks.com
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2007 …..Our Latest Videos
"Repercussions of Drunk Driving"
Sometimes it’s difficult to understand and
sympathize with someone who has made a certain choices
in their life. These choices have resulted in horrible
repercussions that impact their life and the lives of
others. As the saying goes “walk a mile in my shoes” and
maybe you will understand; but hopefully you will never
have to experience the terrible consequences. That is
the goal of Minnesotans For Safe Driving’s latest
version of “Repercussions of Drunk Driving” and
“Impaired and Distracted Driving”. These videos contain
compelling and emotional stories told by the offenders
and the victims involved in fatal traffic crashes.
Our latest version of Repercussions of Drunk Driving,
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Crash Dynamics
During a motor vehicle crash, three collisions happen:
The Vehicle Collision. This is what happens at the point of impact, whether it comes from the front, back or side. The vehicle begins stopping as soon as it collides with an object such as another vehicle, wall or tree.
The Human Collision. At the moment of impact (whether you are driving or not), you will be moving at the same speed as the car. If you are unbelted, whatever is in front of you (ie. steering wheel, windshield, front seat, another person, etc.) will stop you from moving. The human collision is the one that causes injury.
The Human Body’s Internal Collision. Even after you have come to a complete stop, your internal organs continue moving forward. Suddenly, these organs collide with other organs. This collision can cause considerable and potentially fatal injury. With any of these collisions, you and your passengers have the best chance of reducing or avoiding injury if everyone is buckled up.
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