'Minnesota Toward Zero Death' Conference In Duluth

DULUTH - The daughter of a Minneapolis police officer who was killed by a drunken driver shared her story with the hope of carrying on her dad's memory at the Duluth Toward Zero Death Conference."One death is too many,” said Toward Zero Death advocate Gina Calistro. “One family living without that family member at their dinner table this Christmas is not okay." So far in 2014, more than 300 Minnesotans have died on state roads. It's a number law enforcement officials say is too high, and with the holidays around the corner, they're preparing for the worst. Thursday, more than 800 law enforcement officers, emergency response teams, teachers, road engineers, and attorneys gathered at the DECC for the annual Toward Zero Death conference. There are breakout sessions teaching people about distracted driving and how to prevent it. The goal is to have less than 300 deaths on Minnesota roads by 2020. For one woman at the conference, she hopes sharing her father's heroic story makes a difference. “It's really hard to believe,” said Calistro. “We were a normal family.” Easter Sunday 2009 was when Calistro got the worst phone call of her life. “I thought my whole family had been taken out by this horrible tragedy," she said. Calistro’s mother and father have taken the turn out of their daughter’s neighborhood hundreds of times, but this time a drunken driver struck them head on. "My dad would have it no other way,” Calistro explained. “He held her airway open on the scene at the accident so that she could breathe; he dispatched with his cell phone his own helicopter because being a police officer and a medic in Vietnam he knew what was needed." A retired sailor and a longtime Minneapolis police officer, who made it his mission to save lives, lost his to a senseless and preventable act."If I can prevent one senseless act of drunk driving, then I've lived the legacy of my father," Calistro said. Calistro believes one of the ways to get to zero deaths is by educating repeat offenders and getting them the help they need not -- just locking them up in jail. The conference continues Friday. For more info on the campaign, click here.