Full Notification

The Gilroy Police Department has been awarded two grants totaling $130,000 from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program of special enforcement and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic related deaths and injuries. The Gilroy 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.

Gilroy Police Chief Denise Turner stated, “Traffic enforcement is a high priority for Gilroy.  We appreciate the partnership with OTS.  The grant funding will help us reduce accidents and injuries on our roadways.”

After falling dramatically between 2006 and 2010, the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions has been slowly 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 Gilroy Police Department want to work with everyone to create a culture of traffic safety across Gilroy and the state.”

Activities that the grant will fund include:

• Educational presentations
• DUI checkpoints
• DUI saturation patrols
• Motorcycle safety enforcement
• Distracted driving enforcement
• Seat belt and child safety seat enforcement
• Bicycle and pedestrian safety 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)
• Pedestrian & bicycle safety presentations including distribution of 200 youth bike helmets

Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.