KDOT Transportation Safety Conference
31st Annual KDOT Transportation Safety Conference
April 21-22, 2026
Manhattan, KS
Pre-conference Session: April 20, 2026
The 31st Annual Kansas Transportation Safety Conference is your chance to learn the latest developments in transportation safety from experts in the field.
Participants will have the opportunity to receive up to 9.5 contact hours of instruction and participate in networking breaks to meet and talk with speakers, colleagues, and vendors in the exhibit hall.
This conference provides valuable information on transportation safety concerns for law enforcement personnel, court professionals, state and local government officials, engineers, EMT and EMS employees, SAFE School youth, driving educators and counselors, and others interested in transportation safety issues.
Motivational keynote and plenary speakers:
-
Keynote: Devin Henderson, “What Else Is Possible”
-
Plenary Day 1: Melissa Wandall, “Purpose in Progress: Resilience that Restores and Saves Lives”
-
Plenary Day 2: Bill DeMott, “#NoMoreEmptySeats — It Made A Difference For That One”
Conference session topics include:
-
Prioritizing Safety for Kids Walking, Biking, and Rolling to School
-
Driving Change: The Work Zone Safe Initiative
-
The Public Trust Toolkit: Winning Support for Safety Decisions
-
How to Identify and Leverage Local Influencers
-
Public Transportation: Safe Mobility for an Aging Population
-
Community First Aid and Crash Response
-
2025 Windstorm in Western Kansas Recap
-
Using Drones in Crash Response and Post-Crash Care Medical Response
-
Kansas Safety Corridor Pilot Program: Update from the Halfway Point
-
Designing Safer Intersections: Proven Solutions, Public Engagement, and Lessons from Missouri
-
An Overview of NCHRP 20-102(24): Infrastructure Modifications to Improve the Operational Conditions of Automated Vehicles
-
Advancing Traffic Safety Analysis with Replica’s Driver Event Data
-
EV and AV Crash Response
-
CMV Safety and How You Can Help
-
Taming Traffic: Diverse Speed Management Strategies for Safer Communities and a Case Study: Dodge City’s SS4A Speed Assessment
-
Institutionalizing the Safe System Approach
-
Regional Breakout Sessions
Continuing education credits: In addition to the regular continuing education credits offered for this conference, we will be offering EMS and AICP credits.
Visit the conference website for more information.
Sponsored by University of Kansas Jayhawk Hospitality and a federal grant through the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend University of Kansas sponsored events. If you require a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this event, please contact Grace Grant by March 30, 2026, at gmgrant@ku.edu or 785-312-2107.
MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION DETAILS
Transportation Safety Awards
What is a Transportation Safety Award?
Transportation Safety Awards are presented annually to safety advocates who have made outstanding contributions to the improvement of transportation safety in Kansas.
Guidance for Hero and People Saving People Awards:
The People Saving People Award highlights the impressive efforts and achievements of a person or organization that has a positive effect on transportation safety behavior in Kansas. To be eligible, an individual or organization must have successfully resolved a transportation safety issue or situation within their organization or community.
The Hero Award recognizes an individual who risked his or her own life for someone else when they happen upon a crash, or while trying to prevent the likelihood of a crash.
General Rules:
A person or group must be nominated, and the corresponding form completed by winter deadline before the spring Transportation Safety Conference.
Nominees are considered by committee based on information supplied in the nomination form. Supporting news articles of the heroic act or resolved transportation safety issue are recommended.
To be eligible, a nominated person/group’s action must have taken place within the current or immediately preceding year of the awarding Transportation Safety Conference. Example: the 2026 TSC will recognize a person/group whose action took place in early 2026 or 2025. An exception to this will be if the event took place in recent years and has not previously been nominated.