The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) awarded the Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) an $85,000 grant for a year-long enforcement and public-awareness program, the department announced in a press release this month.
The traffic-safety program is intended to educate the public of safe roadway habits and deter people from violating traffic laws or practicing other unsafe behaviors that lead to injuries and fatalities.
“Injury and fatal traffic collisions are on the rise statewide,” said SHPD Chief Christopher Nunley. “These grant funds will be put to good use in order to try to reverse that trend.”
The OTS grant will fund various education and enforcement activities for the 2019 federal fiscal year, which is from Oct. 1, 2018, to Sept. 30, 2019, including:
- DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols to take suspected alcohol- or drug-impaired drivers– and those unlicensed or with a revoked/ suspended license– off the road
- Traffic-safety education presentations for youth and community members on distracted, impaired and teen driving and bicycle/ pedestrian safety
- Patrols at intersections with increased incidents of pedestrian and bike collisions.
- Checking for seat-belt and child-safety seat compliance
- Motorcycle-safety operations in areas with high rider volume and where higher rate of motorcycle crashes occur
- Speeding, red-light and stop-sign enforcement
- Compliance of DUI “hot sheets” identifying repeat DUI offenders
- Specialized DUI and drugged driving training to identify and apprehend suspected impaired drivers
- Pedestrian and bicycle enforcement.
In 2016, 3,623 people were killed in crashes across the state, a 7-percent increase from 2015, according to the SHPD via statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 867 pedestrians were also killed on California roadways in 2016, a nearly 33-percent increase from 2012.
“Almost all crashes are preventable,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. “Education and enforcement go hand-in-hand, helping change behaviors that cause devastating crashes.”
