Minnesota State Senator Judy Seeberger, DFL-Afton, held a press conference on Friday, July 10 at the State Capitol to highlight and raise awareness of motorcycle and traffic safety. Appearing with local motorcyclists from the Litas Motorcycle Collective and St. Croix Valley Riders as well as Office of
Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson, Seeberger sought to bring attention to motorcycle safety.
“I’m Senator Judy Seeberger. I represent District 41 and I live in Afton,” Seeberger said. Standing with members of the Litas Motorcycle Motorcycle Collective and St. Croix Valley Riders, Seeberger then called attention to motorcycle accidents. A motorcyclist herself, the riding season had been
showing itself a deadly one.
“It’s been a particularly deadly one,” Seeberger said of the present riding season. “And just about every one we’ve seen has been preventable.”
Seeberger went on.
“I want to talk a little bit about what we’re seeing and I want to urge motorists to use caution when you’re out on the road,” she said. “Put your phone down. Give yourself enough time to get where you’re going. If you’ve been drinking, please don’t drive, and take another look when you’re at a stop sign or before you make a lane change. And remember, motorcycle
riders are out there and we need to pay attention. They have just as much right to be on the road as you do when your’e in a car, but they’re harder to see and we need to pay extra attention.”
Shifting to examples, Seeberger spoke of driving to the Capitol in an SUV and having someone almost pull in front of her, another example including someone puling out from a stop sign, prompting a hard stop.
“If I would’ve been on my bike it would have been a crash,” Seeberger said. “These are people not paying attention. If you’re pulling out from a stop sign, look twice, three times before proceeding.”
Speaking next was Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson, who shared traffic numbers.
“I’ve going to give you a little bit of a snapshot of some of the trends this year. As the Senator said we’re off to an extremely deadly start. And so we have to figure out a way to reverse that trend...before I start with the numbers and the data and all of that I want everybody to remember that every number, every bit of statistic, every data point that I’m talking about
today represents people just like these,” he said, gesturing to those behind him.
Hanson then shared that 37 motorcyclists killed on Minnesota roads in 2026, compared to 24 at the same time last year. Left unreversed, the trend stood to reach 90 before years end, the highest in decades.
“That’s numbers that we haven’t seen since the late 80s and 90s,” he said. “So it’s incumbent on all, to riders and drivers, to work together to ensure that we are doing everything so everyone that can use the roads safety.”
Notable this year as well are three passenger fatalities, with single injury fatalities occurring most frequently when a motorcycle is making a turn or negotiating a curve. Accidents have taken place on both rural and urban settings, with potential contributors including speed and skill level, with more younger riders dying at the start of the year but this now being eclipsed by riders in their sixties. Roughly half have been the result of a single motorcycle caught in a run off the road event, with the other half being a vehicle and motorcycle interacting.
“We’re all in this together,” Hanson said of working to lessen motorcycle fatalities.
An important factor in motorcycle safety was not driving impaired.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re using,” Hanson said. “Impaired is impaired. If you feel different, you drive different. If you feel different, make a safe choice, and don’t put yourself in a position where you’re going to be arrested, hurt, or killed.” Roughly one-third of fatalities in Minnesota restful
from impaired driving. Anecdotal evidence shows motorcycle use has increased due to gas mileage and fuel prices. Keeping motorcycle riders and drivers safe took working together, with several courses offered in Minnesota for safety. Safety
materials were also available from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety, with ads planned on motorcycle safety.
“Wear protective gear,” Hanson told riders. Helmets were the first and last line of defense for head injuries, with high visibility important as well.
Wearing high visibility gear for motorcyclists and drivers taking a second look were important.
“The blind spots are bigger than they have been,” Hanson said. Road safety is a shared responsibility.

Speaking next was Don Moehrle, president of the St. Croix Valley Riders (SCVR), who shared benefits of being a good rider.
“If you are a St. Croix Valley Member in good standing for three years or more, we will reimburse that rider for an endorsement class, an intermediate skills training class, or even an advanced training class. We will pay you back
up to $279 for that program. That’s how much we care about the awareness and the safety on the roads for you as a motorcycle rider."

Next addressing the new splitting and filtering law that came into affect last summer, Moehrle said many motorcyclists may not understand it.
“If you’re going more than 25 miles per hour filtering or splitting, you’re breaking the law,” he said. “Do not do it on the interstate; do not do it on a four-lane highway, unless traffic is going 15 miles per hour or slower. You need to protect yourself and we need to ease the motorists of Minnesota to
this new law. We have to work together on it. Motorists, please leave a gap between two lanes. Not your lane and a shoulder, that’s illegal. Between two lanes is where a motorcycle will go if there is an opening.”
Lane splitting refers to a motorcycle riding between two lane of moving traffic traveling in the same direction, while filtering allows motorcycles to move between lanes of stopped traffic. Lane splitting is legal only if traffic is moving 25 mph or less, the motorcycle is traveling no more than 15 mph faster than the surrounding traffic, and there are at least two lanes traveling in the same direction. Lane filtering is legal only if traffic is completely stopped, the motorcycle travels no more than 15 mph while filtering through traffic, and there are two
or more lanes traveling in the same direction.
Motorcyclists are prohibited from splitting or filtering roundabouts, whether on approach, within, or on exit, in school zones, work zones where traffic has been reduced to a single lane, and on freeway or expressway on-ramps.
Drivers for their part may not intentionally block a motorcycle that is legally splitting or filtering, and cannot deliberately impede the maneuver, thought they are not obligated to move over or create extra space.
Moehrle said that SCVR protected the right to choose on safety gear.
“We don’t heckle you if you wear a helmet. Some of us do, some of us don’t.” Helmets have been shown to improve safety in certain circumstances.
The group also offers training, with Luke Trombley of SCVR Rider Education speaking briefly on training opportunities. Those interested in more from SCVR can go online to scvr.org.
Also speaking was Heather Sevelin of the Litas Motorcycle Collective, who shared a personal story of a friend named Dana Lucker-Milan, killed by a suspected drunk driver named Robert Rodriguez in White Bear Lake on June
10. Rodriguez registered a .27 blood alcohol content level, more than three times the legal limit. Witnesses said Lucker-Milan had a green light, while Rodriguez said he had a yellow arrow and did not see the motorcycle.
Rodriguez has a prior DWI conviction from 2021, and faces a charge of criminal vehicular homicide. Lucker-Milan died in hospital from her injuries.
“We all want justice for Dana,” Sevelin said. “This didn’t have to happen, and it was preventable...please put the phone down. Please slow down. Please look for motorcycles. If you decide to drink, don’t drive. We are not obstacles on the road. We are daughters, sons, parents, teachers, friends,
husbands, wives, and best friends...when you don’t see a motorcycle, a family can lose everything.”
Following Sevelin was Ashley Giel of the St. Croix Valley Litas, with the Litas part of a worldwide organization of female motorcycle enthusiasts.
Giel asked the state for justice regarding Lucker-Milan’s death from a suspected drunk driver.
“I would like to ask the state for a swift and just sentencing in this case, and we would like to see Robert Rodriguez put back behind bars, where he belongs, for the rest of his life. He does not deserve the opportunity to hurt anybody else. Godspeed Dana. We love you, we miss you, and we wish you
were here.”
Seeberger took the podium for questions, saying she would not oppose stricter penalties.
“I would not be opposed to pursuing stricter penalties for people who drive when impaired, who have multiple offenses, who drive recklessly,” she said.
“And who engage in conduct that results in preventable death. Seeberger also said she will not support any law mandating helmet use in the state of Minnesota. “I will always say you should be safe,” she said. “I will never support any law mandating helmet use.”
Seeberger closed the event by bringing it back to people.
“I hope it’s clear, that everybody on a motorcycle, like Heather said, is a person,” she said. “It’s somebody’s loved one."