Riverside Police Department Receives Grant for Special Traffic Enforcement and Crash Prevention
Published: 10/18/2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2017
CONTACT:
Sergeant Eric Detmer
Riverside Police Department
Phone: 951.351.6046
Email: [email protected]
Riverside Police Department Receives Grant for
Special Traffic Enforcement and Crash Prevention
The Riverside Police Department has been awarded a $608,000.00 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 Riverside 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.
“The grant activities will target the city’s ongoing effort to strive to make the streets of Riverside a safer community to drive, bike and walk,” said Sergeant Eric Detmer. We thank the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for the funding of this program and its continued vision and support.
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 Riverside Police Department, with assistance from the Office of Traffic Safety, will use these tools to help keep Riverside 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
- Night-time Seat belt and child safety seat enforcement
- Speed, red light, and stop sign enforcement
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
