ESCONDIDO–The Escondido Police Department has been awarded a $310,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program of special enforcements and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic related deaths and injuries.
The department will use the funding as part of the city’s ongoing commitment to keep its roadways safe and improve the quality of life through both enforcement and education.
“Partnerships are critical to the success of any traffic safety effort,” said Chief of Police Craig Carter. “The City of Escondido and our motoring public value the continued support from OTS while we work hard to keep our community safe on our roadways. The Escondido Police Department is committed to traffic safety and asks that every driver do their part to drive safe.”
After falling to a ten-year low in 2010, the number of persons killed has climbed nearly 17% across the state with 3,176 killed in 2015 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Particularly alarming is the six year rise in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities, along with the growing dangers of distracting technologies, and the emergence of drug-impaired driving as a major problem. The grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk driving, speeding and crashes at intersections.
“Years of research tell us that enforcement and education work best jointly to combat unsafe driving,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. “This grant brings both tactics together, with the Office of Traffic Safety and the Escondido Police Department working in concert to help keep the streets and highways safe across Escondido and the state.”
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
• Warrant service operations targeting multiple DUI offenders
• Compilation of DUI “Hot Sheets,” identifying worst-of-the-worst DUI offenders
• Specialized DUI and drugged driving training such as Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE)
Funding for the program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
