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Statewide task force announces recommendations for Safer Driving, Safer Roads in Kansas

Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007 (07-011)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News Contact: Maggie Thompson
(785) 296-5613 (office)
(785) 817-4350 (cell)

Statewide task force announces recommendations for Safer Driving, Safer Roads in Kansas

TOPEKA - The recommendations of the Driving Force, a statewide citizen task force that examined ways to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries, will be released at three simultaneous news conferences at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16. The news conferences will take place at the following locations:

• Garden City: City of Garden City Administrative Center, 301 N. 8th, Commission Room
• Topeka: Pozez Education Center, 8th & Horne, Centennial Room D
• Wichita: WSU Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex, 5015 E. 29th St. N., Room 138

Following the Topeka news conference, members of the Driving Force will move forward with two of their recommendations when they ask for introduction of two bills before the House Transportation Committee Meeting. The House Transportation Committee meeting is at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 16.

The task force is made up of concerned individuals from a wide range of professions across the state, and is co-chaired by Jeff Boerger, president of Kansas Speedway, and Darlene Whitlock, trauma projectcoordinator at Stormont-Vail TraumaCare in Topeka.

The task force met throughout the state during the past year and discussed traffic safety issues related to education, enforcement, emergency services, and highway engineering. The task force heard presentations from experts in various areas related to traffic safety and developed their recommendations based on the information from those experts.

For more information on the Driving Force and its efforts to reduce fatalities and injuries on Kansas roadways, contact Maggie Thompson at the Kansas Department of Transportation at (785) 296-5613 or maggiet@ksdot.org.

The Driving Force is a part of Kansas’ Safer Driving, Safer Roads campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to inform and change driver attitudes and behavior to create a safer driving environment. The Safer Driving, Safer Roads campaign is being led in a unique cross-agency endeavor by the Kansas Department of Transportation, the Kansas Highway Patrol and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

This information can be made available in alternative accessible formats upon request.

For information about obtaining an alternative format, contact the Bureau of Transportation Information,

700 SW Harrison St., Second Floor West, Topeka, KS 66603-3754 or phone 785-296-3585 (Voice) (TTY).