For Immediate Release:
October 14, 2019
Contact:
Tim Weisberg
OTS Marketing and Public Affairs
timothy.weisberg@ots.ca.gov
(916) 509-3020
The Office of Traffic Safety Awards $84 Million in Grant Funding
303 Grants Awarded to Agencies Across California
Elk Grove, Calif. – The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is continuing its efforts to make our roads safer by awarding more than $80 million in federal highway safety funds for 303 grants to agencies across the state. The funding will pay for a variety of traffic safety efforts aimed at educating the public on safe roadway behaviors and the enforcement of traffic laws to deter illegal and dangerous actions.
The grants are part of the annual OTS Highway Safety Plan (HSP), which outlines how we are addressing traffic safety problems in California, as well as measurable goals to reduce injuries and deaths from crashes.
“Empowering people to get to and from places safely is a responsibility we do not take lightly,” OTS Director Barbara Rooney. “We’re committed to funding programs that address significant safety challenges and change behaviors that put people on the road at risk.”
The grant recipients are local law enforcement agencies, public health departments, fire departments, universities, state agencies, district attorneys offices, non-profit traffic safety organizations, and transportation planning agencies.
Among the traffic safety programs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will help fund include:
- Overtime enforcement of traffic laws addressing impaired and distracted drivers, speeding, seat belt and child safety seat use, bicyclist, pedestrian and motorcycle
- Officer training in the detection and testing of drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or
- Statewide prosecutor training network for DUI cases, DUI courts to monitor treatment programs for
- Educating parents/guardians on the correct use of child safety seats, training and recertification of Child Passenger Safety
- Teen education programs on the dangers of impaired and distracted
- New equipment that assists first responders in the rescue of crash victims trapped in a vehicle.
- Improving capability and efficiency of state and local traffic data collection systems.
- Motorcycle training
- Community workshops on bicycle/pedestrian safety, local infrastructure safety
The federal grant awards are for the 2020 federal fiscal year, which is from Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020. Grants are awarded based on data showing identifiable traffic safety problems, proposed strategies to address the problem, as well as a demonstrated ability to show effectiveness in reducing traffic deaths and injuries.
The OTS administers funding for traffic safety programs statewide with the goal of reducing crashes that result in deaths, injuries, and economic losses. The OTS is a department under the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA).
