The Culver City Police Department has been awarded a $120,000 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 Culver City Police 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.
In a written statement CCPD Chief Scott Bixby stated, "We at the Culver City Police Department take great pride and are passionate about everything we do. We believe in, and practice a professional and proactive approach to police work, while valuing community partnerships. We measure our effectiveness through our response time, our case clearance, our crime prevention and reduction efforts, and by ensuring an effective Parking Enforcement program and an efficient flow of traffic. This grant will help us in achieving our goals by providing us the funding to target the most egregious of traffic law violators, while educating our community members through public outreach and education efforts."
After falling to a ten-year low in 2010, the number of persons killed on roadways has climbed nearly 17 percent across the state, with 3,429 fatalities in 2015. Particularly alarming is the rise in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities that now comprise nearly 25 percent of all traffic deaths, along with the growing dangers of distracting technologies and the emergence of drug-impaired driving. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as speeding and crashes at intersections.
"Unsafe behaviors account for 94 percent of traffic crashes," said OTS Director Rhonda Craft. "This grant emphasizes the two most effective ways to change behaviors – education and enforcement. The Culver City Police Department, with assistance from the Office of Traffic Safety, will use these tools to help keep the Culver City streets safe."
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
While alcohol remains the worst offender for DUI crashes, the Culver City Police Department is supporting the new effort from OTS that aims to drive awareness that "DUI Doesn't Just Mean Booze." Prescription medications and marijuana can also be impairing by themselves, or in combination with alcohol, and can result in a DUI arrest.
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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