OCEANSIDE–The Oceanside Police Department has been awarded a $227,115 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 our roadways safe and improve the quality of life through both enforcement and education.
“We are grateful for this grant award from the California Office of Traffic Safety that affords us the opportunity to concentrate our traffic enforcement efforts on the traffic issues that compromise the safety of our community,” said Oceanside Police Chief Frank McCoy.
After falling dramatically between 2006 and 2010, the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions has slowly been rising. Particularly alarming are recent increases in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities, the growing dangers of distracting technologies, and the emergence of drug-impaired driving as a major problem. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk driving, speeding, and crashes at intersections.
“Overall, California’s roadways are among the safest in the nation,” said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. “But to meet future mobility, safety, and accessible transportation objectives, we have to reverse this recent trend in order to reach our common goal – zero deaths on our roadways. The Office of Traffic Safety and the Oceanside Police Department want to work with everyone to create a culture of traffic safety across the City of Oceanside and the state.”
Activities that the grant will fund include:
* Educational presentations
* DUI checkpoints
* DUI saturation patrols
* Motorcycle safety enforcement
* Distracted driving 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)
* Court “sting” operations to cite individuals driving from DUI court after ignoring their license suspension or revocation
* Stakeout operations to observe the “worst-of-the-worst” repeat DUI offender probationers with suspended or revoked driver licenses
California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration funded the program.
