The Driving Force

The Driving Force is a statewide citizen task force announced by Governor Kathleen Sebelius in February 2006 that is charged with recommending ways to reduce the number of people killed and injured on Kansas roadways. The task force was formed following a series of community forums held last spring across Kansas. At those forums a number of issues were discussed and it became very clear that this is a multi-faceted problem with no single solution.

The task force met seven times at different locations around the state and looked at the areas of traffic safety impacted by education, enforcement, emergency medical services, and highway engineering.  They heard presentations from experts in various areas related to traffic safety, and the public was given the opportunity to participate at the meetings.

The Driving Force identified a number of important recommendations that require a significant amount of time and effort to implement.  Task force members decided that the recommendations should be phased into a three-year plan so that sufficient effort and resources could be concentrated on each issue to ensure achievement.

On January 16, 2007, simultaneous news conferences were held in Garden City, Topeka, and Wichita to announce the final recommendations of the Driving Force.