Laguna Beach Police Department has been awarded a $115,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long enforcement and public awareness program. The traffic safety program is intended to educate the public on safe roadway habits and deter people from violating traffic laws or practicing other unsafe behaviors that lead to injuries and fatalities.
Activities that the grant will fund include:
- Educational presentations
- DUI checkpoints
- DUI saturation patrols
- Bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement
- Motorcycle safety enforcement
- Distracted driving enforcement
- Seat belt and child safety seat enforcement
- Speed, red light, and stop sign enforcement
- Specialized DUI and drugged driving training to identify and apprehend suspected impaired drivers.
In 2016, 3,623 people were killed in crashes across the state, a 7 percent increase from 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Particularly alarming is the rise in pedestrian deaths, with 867 pedestrians killed on California roadways in 2016, a nearly 33 percent increase from 2012. Along with the growing dangers of distracting technologies like phones and drug-impaired driving, this grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these dangerous and illegal behaviors.
“Almost all crashes are preventable,” OTS director Rhonda Craft said. “Education and enforcement go hand in hand helping change behaviors that cause devastating crashes.”
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
