Newport Beach Police Department Receives Grant for
Special Traffic Enforcement and Crash Prevention
The Newport Beach Police Department has been awarded a $300,000 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 Newport Beach 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.
“Our Department is always working to make the streets of Newport Beach as safe as possible. This grant allows us to target a wide range of concerns, from pedestrian safety to distracted driving to DUI. These aren’t new issues, but as long as they continue to affect the people who live, work, and play in Newport Beach, we are dedicated to addressing them head-on,” said Sergeant Michael Schiavi. “The goal is to intervene before tragedy strikes. These funds from the Office of Traffic Safety allow us to allocate more officers to educating the public and to patrolling our roadways.”
After falling to a ten-year low in 2010, the number of persons killed in traffic collisions has climbed nearly 17% across the state of California, with 3,429 persons killed in 2015. Particularly alarming is the six-year rise in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities (which now comprise nearly 25% of all traffic deaths), the growing dangers of distracting technologies, and the emergence of drug-impaired driving as significant and increasingly-relevant problem. This grant funding will provide opportunities to combat these and other devastating problems such as drunk driving, 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 Newport Beach Police Department, with assistance from the Office of Traffic Safety, will use these tools to help keep Newport Beach 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
- Speed, red light, and stop sign enforcement
While alcohol remains the worst offender for DUI crashes, The Newport Beach Police Department supports the new effort from OTS to raise awareness that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” Prescription medications and marijuana can impair drivers on their own, 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.
