Byzewski recognized for service

Talk about it

Some people go the extra mile for traffic safety and Dickinson’s Becky Byzewski of the Southwest Coalition of Safe Communities is one of them.

She is one of four statewide whom the North Dakota Department of Transportation Safety Division recently added to its 2010 Traffic Safety Honor Roll, according to a press release.

Byzewski has been a Safe Communities coordinator since 1998.

“Our coalition and myself work to make changes in our region in terms of alcohol abuse, child passenger safety and occupant protection,” she said. “We can’t stop people from getting in crashes and can’t make them wear their seatbelts, but we do our best to give them good information so they make good decisions.”

Four others in the area have been inducted to the Honor Roll in the past about 15 years, she said. “It’s a really big honor in our region that that many have been honored,” she added. They include:

- Todd Otto, Dickinson

- LoAnn Wegh, Dickinson

- Deb Nelson, Dickinson

- Clarence Tuhy, Dickinson

“Becky has demonstrated long-term contributions to traffic safety and has exceeded or gone beyond that which is generally accepted as being part of her responsibility,” said Mark Nelson, DOT Safety Division director. “These awards represent the highest recognition of individuals or organizations involved in traffic safety.”

She established a victim impact panel for those who receive a driving under the influence citation in Dickinson, as well as implemented ways to collect regional data, according to a press release. Lastly, Dickinson ordinance now requires alcohol server training for all employees that sell alcohol.

Safety Division partners submitted nominations and previous recipients and Safety Division staff reviewed the nominations to pick the four honorees.

“I was really surprised, of course,” Byzewski said.

Other honorees across the state are Bill Vasicek, Pam Trueblood and Gene LaDoucer.

Tags: news, local, nddot