The
Arcadia Police Department has been awarded a $100,000 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 Arcadia 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.
Captain Larry Goodman said, “The
Arcadia Police Department benefits from this grant by enhancing the
department’s current traffic philosophy that embraces educating our community
regarding traffic safety and enforcing hazardous traffic violations that place
the city’s residents and visitors at risk.
As with last year, the grant will provide advanced, specialized training
for Arcadia Police Department personnel and will create even more opportunities
for our officers to be visible throughout the community. We have every reason to believe the combined
efforts of the Office of Traffic Safety and the Arcadia Police Department will
have an impact in reducing the number of people injured or killed in traffic
collisions.”
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 Arcadia Police Department, with
assistance from the Office of Traffic Safety, will
use these tools to help keep Arcadia streets safe.”
Activities
that the grant will fund include:
· - Educational presentations
· - DUI checkpoints
· - DUI saturation patrols
· - Bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement
· - Distracted driving enforcement
· - 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.
