Agenda - Missouri's 2026 Highway Safety and Traffic Conference

8:00 – 9:30 am

Enforcement – Windsor I/II (P.O.S.T. Credit)

Buckle Up: Car Seat Essentials for Law Enforcement
Kathy Zents, Safety and Health Council of Western Missouri and Kansas
John Hotz, Missouri State Highway Patrol (Retired)
During this session, officers will be equipped with knowledge to take an active role in assessing car seat use, according to evidencebased best practices; talk to caregivers about child passenger safety; and share local and national child passenger safety resources with caregivers – all within the context of their regular duties.

Education I – Windsor III

What's New? What's Next? Youth Highway Safety Programs in Action
Aj Silvey, Sedalia Police Department
Tammy Gweedo McGee, Gweedo Memorial Foundation
Becky Foster, Missouri Department of Transportation
See how Missouri is taking a fresh approach to keeping young people safe on the road. Hear how a police department launched the state’s first traffic garden and is now making it permanent, how one mom turned the loss of her son into a mission to save lives, offering free programs to people in Missouri, and the future of an exciting new, teen driving program that is competition based. All programs are designed to be easy for communities across Missouri to access, implement and use.

Engineering – Windsor IV

Project Perspectives: How Design, Operations, and Community Voices Shape Our Work
Shawn Leight, CBB
Frank Miller & Jen Wade, Missouri Department of Transportation
Lee White, City of Columbia
Alicia Hunter, Mid-America Regional Council
This session explores how transportation projects evolve through the combined influence of engineering decisions, operational realities, and community expectations. Attendees will examine how design choices affect safety and functionality, how operational insights inform practical solutions, and how public feedback shapes project direction and outcomes. Through real‑world examples and open discussion, this session highlights the value of integrating diverse perspectives to create transportation projects that are safer, more responsive, and better aligned with the needs of Missouri communities.

Education II – Parliament

Looking Back at Missouri's World Cup Experience
Jason Sims, KC 2026
Greg Bolon, Matt Killian, & Becky Allmeroth, Missouri Department of Transportation
Kelly Alvarez, KC Scout
Captain Steven Johnson, Missouri State Highway Patrol
Bobby Evans, Mid-America Regional Council
This session will include presentations and discussion by a variety of stakeholders involved in coordinating and monitoring traffic operations in Kansas City during the World Cup. The session will highlight planning efforts, operational strategies, unexpected challenges, and lessons learned.

10:00 – 11:30 am

Enforcement – Windsor I/II (P.O.S.T. Credit)

Beyond Citations: Effective Youth Alcohol Enforcement & Education
Doug Buie, Missouri Division of Alcohol & Tobacco Control

Law enforcement agencies and personnel routinely experience a variety of issues with liquor law related topics. Most officers have not received training in state liquor law or identifying fake identifications. Depending on where you work or your duties, this training could be a very helpful tool. Imagine all the underage drinking you could help combat given the necessary training, and all the subsequent nuisance and public safety types of issues you could reduce or even eliminate to ultimately improve our community. This session will discuss current liquor laws and enforcement practices, and the identification of fake IDs.

Education I – Windsor III

Beyond the Barrels: Building a Safer Work Zone Culture
Tom Robins, Founder of Work Zone Safe
Gavin Osburn, Former FCCLA Student & Work Zone Safe Advocate
Nicole Ebker-Herbel & Kelby Herbel, Between the White Lines
Alex Wassman & Dan Smith, Missouri Department of Transportation

What if people stopped seeing work zones as just barrels, cones and flashing lights, and started seeing the people behind them? This session takes a fresh look at work zone safety through a new teen-focused program that builds awareness and empathy, delivering a simple, but powerful message: there is a face and family behind every flag, cone and flashing light. This session also highlights an organization that has found a way to better protect highway and emergency workers all over Missouri by making sure they have the equipment and gear they really need to stay safe. Attendees will also learn what to watch for when traveling through a work zone, and who to contact and how to report a work zone safety concern.

Engineering – Windsor IV

Keeping Missouri Moving: State Freight Strategy, Rail Crossing Safety, and Commercial Motor Vehicle Viewpoint
Chris Luebbert, FMCSA
Alex Seda & Lewie Pugh, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
Levi Woods, Missouri Department of Transportation
This session offers a concise look at Missouri’s freight and rail planning priorities, current efforts to improve at‑grade rail crossing safety, and opportunities tied to Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements funding. Attendees will also hear key roadway insights from the commercial motor vehicle perspective, highlighting challenges and needs across Missouri.

Education II – Parliament

Stop the Bleed: From Bystander to Lifesaver
Cole County EMS
This session will provide attendees with training on how to prevent excessive blood loss using Stop the Bleed training curriculum. Stop the Bleed is a national campaign launched by the White House in 2015 to teach the public how to deal with bleeding emergencies before professional help arrives.

1:00 – 2:30 pm

Enforcement – Windsor I/II (P.O.S.T. Credit)

22ZERO: Healing the Hero
Pamela Arnell, 22ZERO Executive Director
Timothy Hughes, U.S. Border Patrol

22ZERO is a national peer program providing trauma healing and emotional healing without talking about the content of the traumas. In this session participants will learn the definition of post traumatic stress, recognize warning signs and gain an understanding of how the trauma healing and emotional Healing processes work, by doing a live demonstration, with a volunteer participant. Participants will also learn about the 22ZERO research completed by Arizona State University on first responders at a national level.

Education I – Windsor III

From the Capitol to the Highway: The Latest in Safety Legislation
Nick Chabarria, AAA
Heather Elder, MADD
Pam Harlan, Missouri Department of Transportation
Chief Scott Craig, Sunrise Beach Police Department

This session will take a look back at the 2026 Missouri legislative session and some of the key safety items that were passed into law. It will also look at items that progressed during the 2026 session and what Missourians can expect to come up for consideration in 2027. Topics include a variety of safety related measures, including strengthened DWI laws, 75 mph speed limits, driver's education, stregthening Missouri's hands-free law, and work zone safety.

Engineering – Windsor IV

Advancing Corridor Safety from Kansas City to the Ozarks
Lauren Gehner, LTAP
Ericka Ross, Missouri Department of Transportation
Dorothy Halbrook & Ashley Winchell, Wilson & Company
Jason Ray, Southwest Missouri Council of Governments
Austin Hostettler, Great River Engineering

This session highlights how Missouri communities are improving roadway safety through corridor projects. Attendees will get an overview of the MoDOT Hwy 24 safety efforts in Kansas City and learn how Safe Streets for All funded projects within Southwest Missouri Council of Governments and Branson are addressing local crash patterns, multimodal needs, and community‑driven safety priorities. The session brings together lessons learned, partnership strategies, and practical approaches that help move Missouri’s corridors toward safer, more reliable travel for all users.

Education II – Parliament

Mental Health and Risky Driving: Investigating the Role of Mindfulness and Purpose as Protective Factors
Dr. Johnathon Ehsani, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

This workshop examines how mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and attention difficulties shape driving behavior and crash risk, drawing on naturalistic driving and telematics research. It introduces mindfulness and sense of purpose as protective factors that support safer driving through intrinsic motivation rather than external reward or punishment, giving attendees research-based insight into the psychological dimensions of safe driving.

3:00 – 4:30 pm

Enforcement – Windsor I/II (P.O.S.T. Credit)

Rethinking the Role of Traffic Stops: Is More Always Better?
Chief Darren Gault, Moline (IL) Police Department
Chief Patrick Kreis, Vernon Hills (IL) Police Department

Traffic enforcement remains a foundational element of policing and plays an important role in community safety. However, not all traffic stops provide equal value, and the costs of traditional enforcement models are increasingly scrutinized by communities, courts, and policy makers. This session explores how two Illinois police agencies, serving very different communities, deliberately re-examined longstanding traffic enforcement philosophies and shifted toward a purposeful, outcomes-driven approach. Both agencies moved away from volume-based traffic enforcement toward strategies focused on public safety, legitimacy, and problem-solving, resulting in substantial reductions in traffic stops with interesting, measured outcomes on community safety.

Education I – Windsor III

The Golden Hour: Saving Lives Through Better Post-Crash Care
Dr. Julie Stilley & Dr. Mark Benton, University of Missouri
Dr. Joseph Finney, Washington University
Cecil Ariant, AECOM

This session will cover several efforts underway in Missouri to improve post-crash care and safety outcomes in traffic crashes. Topics include pre-hospital blood programs, incident management techniques, and improving access to trauma care in rural areas.

Engineering – Windsor IV

Building Safety, Building Access: From Missouri Highways to Rural Rwanda
Eddie Watkins, Missouri Department of Transportation
James Ritter, Hg Consult, Inc.
Jennifer Pangborn, WSP in the U.S.

This session explores how engineering solutions can improve safety and connectivity in very different environments. Participants will learn about MoDOT’s Safety Design-Build 1.0 initiative, including how targeted design, construction, and collaboration are reducing crashes and enhancing roadway performance across Missouri. The session then shifts to a global perspective concerning delivering safe, reliable footbridges in rural Rwanda—a project that transformed daily mobility, community connection to essential services, and improved long-term economic opportunity. Together, these stories highlight how thoughtful infrastructure design, whether on a major highway or a remote rural area, creates meaningful and lasting impacts.

Education II – Parliament

Does the Behind-the-Wheel Test Actually Matter for Safety?
Dr. Johnathon Ehsani, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

This workshop addresses whether current behind-the-wheel exams accurately predict real-world crash risk for novice drivers. It outlines evidence-based reforms, such as hazard perception testing, to strengthen licensing as an ongoing standard for road safety rather than a one-time administrative gateway and explores progress toward a performance-based licensing system.