5/9/2008
MEDIA ADVISORY: Summit will cover highway safety trends
MEDIA NOTE: The following is for information only and is not intended for public dissemination.
BOISE - Current trends in highway safety will serve as theme for an estimated 200 safety professionals and law enforcement officials Tuesday (May 13) during the Idaho 2008 Highway Safety Summit, "Smart Choices Save Lives."
The summit is sponsored by ITD's Office of Highway Operations and Safety and will be at the Doubletree-Riverside Hotel in Boise, 2900 Chinden Blvd. The program runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Participants will include representatives from the Idaho State Police, county sheriffs' offices and local police departments, as well as other agencies and organizations involved in traffic safety.
Program highlights include:
- Sheriff John Whetsel, Oklahoma County Sheriff, will talk about why "Saving Lives Ain't Bad."
- Capt. Mark Cowley with the Bingham County Sheriff's Office and Brandon Ibarra, a Bingham County teenager, will offer strategies for reducing risky driving behaviors among young drivers.
- Traffic law enforcement, racial profiling and other issues affecting public trust in police will be among the topics presented by Lowell Porter with Cambridge Systematics.
- Idaho's Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Jared Olsen will provide an update on Idaho Traffic Law.
- Officers Kyle Wills and Eric Simunich with the Boise Police Department will discuss effective, productive and safe seat belt enforcement.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) officials also will be on hand. Greg Patton, Boise State University men's tennis head coach, will serve as lunch keynote speaker for the summit.
"Idaho's Highway Safety Summit is sponsored each year by ITD and provides education to our law enforcement agencies and highway safety partners," said Mary Hunter, ITD highway safety manager. "The summit is a way to offer more tools to help reduce highway traffic deaths and serious injuries."
Each day, six Idahoans are either killed or seriously injured in traffic crashes. Society pays 85 percent of the medical costs for individuals involved in crashes. These costs are passed on to the public through higher insurance premiums, taxes and increased charges for medical services.