The 2022 Lifesavers Conference was held in Chicago, March 13-15, 2022, celebrating 40 years of providing a platform for traffic safety professionals to share their knowledge, expertise and best practices for reducing serious injuries and fatalities on our roadways.

In 2020, 38,824 lives were lost in traffic crashes nation-wide. It’s the highest number of fatalities since 2007, and the upward trend is continuing. By attending Lifesavers, you can learn about current best and promising practices in highway safety that you can take home and put into action, helping to reverse the fatality and injury crash trend.

The Lifesavers Conference is the world’s largest gathering of leaders and advocates in traffic safety. Over 1,300 people attended the conference in 2022, and close to 2,000 attended regularly before the pandemic.

Attendees represent the following groups:

• Local, tribal, state and federal highway safety officials
• Law enforcement, prosecutors and first responders
• Child safety advocates, technicians and instructors
• Private and non-profit program providers
• Victim advocates
• Auto and insurance industry leaders
• Public health professionals
• Safety and injury prevention specialists
• Students, researchers and academics
• Transportation planners and engineers

The 2022 Lifesavers Conference provided a national platform with over 70 workshops in nine tracks, plenary sessions, peer exchange discussion groups and an extensive exhibit hall. The nine subject matter tracks were:

• Child Passenger Safety
• Communications
• Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement
• Distracted Driving
• Impaired Driving
• Occupant Protection
• Pedestrian/Bicyclist Safety
• Safe Systems
• Vehicle Technologies/Automated Driving

The Lifesavers Conference program is designed to engage federal, state and local government, law enforcement, public health, injury prevention, advocacy and non-profit organization professionals in an exchange of ideas, strategies and programs to reduce preventable injuries and deaths. Now more than ever, people from every discipline that can help improve highway safety need to engage in collaborative learning and put the best ideas into action to reverse the upward trend in fatality and injury crashes.

Join us! Lifesavers 2023 will be held in Seattle, Washington, April 2-4, 2023, in the Washington State Convention Center. See you there!

A Lifesavers Viewpoint from Ron Replogle, National Law Enforcement Initiatives Manager, Mothers Against Drunk Driving

I have been in my position as Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s (MADD) National Law Enforcement Initiatives Manager for nearly six years now. Prior to joining MADD, I served in Missouri for 31-years as a state trooper, the last five as the superintendent/colonel of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

I had never attended a Lifesavers Conference during my years with the Patrol. We always sent someone, but it was usually personnel from our Field Operations Bureau. I attended my first Lifesavers Conference in 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. I was pleasantly surprised when I found so many people from different disciplines in attendance. All had the same passion and goals in mind, saving lives!

I have since joined the Impaired Driving Track planning team which allows me to assist with putting the track workshops together for each conference. It is exciting to work with like-minded professionals that are so passionate about their work and the mission of Lifesavers.

The just completed Chicago conference was attended by over 1,300 traffic safety professionals. The 70-plus workshops and plenary sessions were outstanding and it was great to be in-person to be reenergized to fight the new pandemic, death on our roadways. With fatalities on the rise across the country, our work as Lifesavers has never been more important.

If you have never attended a Lifesavers Conference, I encourage you to attend next year in Seattle. If you are not able to attend, make sure someone from your agency or organization does. They will return with great ideas and a renewed passion to save lives!

Ron Replogle contributed to this article.