Renville County’s Mary Erickson receives TZD award for 2022

A Renville County woman is one of eleven individuals recognized by Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths program representatives at this year’s awards program on Wednesday. Mary Erickson, Toward Zero Deaths Coalition Coordinator for Renville County, received the TZD Education Star Award at the program on Oct. 12 in St. Cloud.

The traffic safety awards are presented annually by the Minnesota departments of health, public safety and transportation at the annual TZD Conference. The awards recognize excellence and innovation in reducing the number of life-changing crashes and improving traffic safety on Minnesota roads. Nearly 900 traffic safety professionals attended this year’s TZD conference in-person in St. Cloud, or online.

The program coordinators stated, “While some have merely survived the challenges of the past couple of years, Mary has continued to thrive with her creativity and passion for creating a culture of traffic safety. During the pandemic, Mary created safe and effective means to reach her neighbors and partners to continue sharing the TZD message. These included contributing to traffic safety newsletters, adapting Buckle up for a Buck for social distancing, and organizing several outdoor events.

“Now that the state has allowed for safe gathering, Mary has been instrumental in organizing traffic safety days at high schools, seat belt challenges, and car seat clinics along with planning and recruiting volunteers for county fair events and Farm Fest. With her gift of bringing people together for the greater good, Mary has also united committees of engineers and law enforcement to tackle at-risk corridors and intersections.

Other winners include:

Twin Cities Metro area winners

• TZD Kathy Swanson Outstanding Service Award – Dakota County Traffic Engineer Kristi Sebastian
• TZD Distinguished Public Leadership Award (Twin Cities Metro area) – Chief Jeff Tate, Shakopee Police Department
• TZD Media Award – Boyd Huppert, KARE-11 television journalist
• TZD Traffic Safety Innovation Award – Richfield Police Department
• TZD Child Passenger Safety Star Award – Officer Ryan Kuffel, Eden Prairie Police Department
• TZD Engineering Star Award – State Traffic Safety Engineer Derek Leuer, MnDOT

Greater Minnesota winners

• TZD Distinguished Public Leadership Award (Greater Minnesota) – Sheriff Kevin Torgerson, Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office
• TZD Emerging Leader Award – Ava Chen, Kylie Karsky and Molly McCloud, 2021 interns for the Shreya R. Dixit Foundation
• TZD Emerging Leader Award – Princeton High School SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) Organization
• TZD Emergency and Trauma Services Star Award – Flight Paramedic Josh Duda, North Memorial Health Air Care, Brainerd
• TZD Enforcement Star Award – Deputy Chad Myers, Winona County Sheriff’s Office