WHAT IS OUR MISSION?

The California Office of Traffic Safety’s mission is to effectively and efficiently administer traffic safety grant funds to reduce traffic deaths, injuries, and economic losses.

WHAT IS OUR VISION?

Toward zero deaths, every 1 counts.

 

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The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) strives to eliminate traffic deaths and injuries. It does this by making available grants to local and state public agencies for programs that help them enforce traffic laws, educate the public in traffic safety, and provide varied and effective means of reducing fatalities, injuries and economic losses from collisions.

OTS draws from several federal government funding sources for its grants. OTS also mounts public awareness campaigns and acts as a primary traffic safety resource in order to enlist the help of the general public and the media encouraging traffic safety.

Grant Program

OTS strives to be results-oriented in all that we do and to be a thought-leader in the traffic safety arena. We proactively respond to emerging traffic safety issues through innovative and evidential-based programs and technologies. Through public-private partnerships with key stakeholders, we work more effectively and continue to explore methods that enable traffic safety practitioners to do their jobs more efficiently.

Each October - November, OTS mails Requests for Concept Papers to more than 3,000 eligible agencies outlining the opportunity to participate in the program and the requirements to compete for available funds. Proposals are submitted addressing traffic safety problems from all interested and eligible agencies.

OTS Coordinators function as liaisons with private and public sector traffic safety leaders to track successful programs and encourage collaborative efforts. This approach encourages widespread participation in the program and gives OTS a broad base from which to select the most effective and cost-efficient countermeasure programs possible.

Since OTS does not have sufficient funds for all submitted proposals, a comprehensive review is part of the proposal selection process. OTS reviews proposals against several criteria including: potential traffic safety impact, collision statistics, seriousness of identified problem(s), and performance on previous grants.

OTS’ program goal is to help local communities develop traffic safety programs which will contribute toward the reduction of the state’s Mileage Death Rate to zero.

OTS grants touch as many state and local agencies as possible. The grants are distributed statewide and regionally, as well as to programs that service seven identified regions, including: Northern California, Bay Area, Central Coast, Central California, Inland Empire, Los Angeles and Orange Counties and Southern Border.

Priority Areas

The Office of Traffic Safety’s federal partner, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has identified eight priority program areas for grant funding. These programs, administered by OTS, are:

Alcohol and Other Drugs: The program goal is to reduce deaths and injuries attributable to alcohol and drug involvement by removing alcohol- and drug-impaired drivers from the roads.

Occupant Protection: The program goal is to increase compliance with the safety restraint laws including the correct and consistent use of infant and child safety seats.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety: The program goal is to increase safety awareness among pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists through various approaches including education, enforcement and engineering.

Traffic Records: The program goal is to establish/improve record systems that aid in identifying existing and emerging traffic safety problems and aid in evaluating program performance. Accurate and current records are needed to support problem identification and to evaluate countermeasure effectiveness.

Emergency Medical Services: The program goal is to ensure that persons involved in motor vehicle collisions receive rapid and appropriate medical treatment through a coordinated system of emergency medical care.

Roadway Safety: The program goal is to improve the roadway and associated environment with a special emphasis on the identification and surveillance of crash locations, traffic control device inventories and other related traffic engineering services.

Police Traffic Services: The program goal is to reduce motor vehicle collisions through selective enforcement, education and deterrence. PTS programs seek to encourage compliance with safety belt use, impaired driving, speed limit and other traffic laws.

Motorcycle Safety: The program goal is to improve motorcycle safety by training and educating motorcycle riders on the effectiveness and need for safety equipment and educating the motoring public on the presence of motorcycles in the traffic environment.

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