Atascadero Police Department gets $100,000 grant
Funds will be used for special traffic enforcement and crash prevention
The Atascadero Police Department has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety for a year-long program of special enforcements and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic related deaths and injuries, the department announced today. Police will use the funding as part of the city’s ongoing commitment to keep roadways safe and improve the quality of life through both enforcement and education.
After falling dramatically between 2006 and 2010, the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions saw slight increases in 2011 and 2012. Particularly worrisome are recent increases in pedestrian and motorcycle fatalities and the dangers of distracting technologies, the announcement said. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk and drugged driving and speeding.
“California’s roadways are still among the safest in the nation,” said Rhonda Craft, director of the California Office of Traffic Safety. “But to meet future mobility, safety, and sustainability objectives, we must create safer roadways for all users. The Atascadero Police Department will be using these and other resources to reach the vision we all share – Toward zero deaths, every 1 counts.”
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Activities that the grant will fund
- Educational presentations
- DUI checkpoints
- DUI saturation patrols
- Distracted driving enforcement
- Seat belt and child safety seat enforcement
- Bicycle and Pedestrian traffic 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
- Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement
- Drug Recognition Evaluator
Comments
