Cass County pilot reports large drops in phone use; Vision Zero expands school outreach

Leah Kelm, regional outreach coordinator for Vision Zero who is based at the Cass County Highway Department, told the Cass County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 15 that a three‑year SmartSign driver behavior pilot based in Cass County has produced measurable behavior change and informs local safety work.

Kelm said the pilot, funded with a federal grant administered through the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Division, cost the county nothing directly and was supported by a $100,000 grant. The pilot combines non‑imaging infrared behavior detectors with portable message signs and a data dashboard to identify and give feedback to drivers exhibiting risky behaviors such as phone use, speeding and not wearing seat belts. “It includes no camera. It keeps no information that’s identifying,” Kelm said.

The program initially suffered winter battery failures and firmware problems but vendor fixes and hardware changes — including self‑heating batteries — restored winter data collection, Kelm said. She described one school deployment at Heritage Middle School in Horace that produced a 39% reduction in detected phone use during a period in October after the detectors and sign were in place.

Kelm said she and other coordinators are hosted by county governments across North Dakota and that her position is reimbursed through state grant funds, with a 15% de minimis indirect‑cost rate added beginning Oct. 1. She told commissioners the program’s distracted‑driving data are valuable because crash reports typically undercount distraction.

Kelm also described Vision Zero’s school program, in which 13 active Vision Zero schools statewide designate student ambassadors and produce PSAs, posters and local events. Northern Cass schools focused on speed using pilot data; Cheyenne High School focused on distracted driving. Kelm said the program also provides leadership opportunities for students and has been recognized nationally.

On the regional level, Kelm said she helped form a Red River Valley traffic safety coalition with Minnesota’s Toward Zero Deaths program. The quarterly coalition includes law enforcement, engineers, EMS and educators and maintains a shared calendar and resource list for regionally coordinated traffic‑safety activities. She said she presented Cass County examples at the Lifesavers Conference in Long Beach and that the county’s work has attracted interest from federal and Minnesota transportation officials.

The commissioners asked technical and privacy questions; Kelm reiterated that the detector uses infrared lasers rather than cameras and that the system does not store identifying information. No formal action or vote by the board was requested or taken on Vision Zero matters during the meeting.

Kelm’s update highlighted the county’s role as host for regional traffic‑safety work and underscored the pilot’s combination of public education, non‑imaging detection technology and school engagement as tools the county said it is using to reduce serious crashes.