The Hollister Police Department has been awarded a new traffic
safety grant for a yearlong anti-drunken driving program aimed at
preventing deaths and injuries on our roadways, according to a
press statement.
Additional enforcement measures in place to combat impaired
driving are coming as a result of a recent $58,000 grant awarded by
the California Office of Traffic Safety to the City of Hollister.
The Hollister Police Department is dedicated to keeping our streets
safe through both enforcement and education of driving under the
influence, according to the statement.
The Hollister Police Department has been awarded a new traffic safety grant for a yearlong anti-drunken driving program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on our roadways, according to a press statement.
Additional enforcement measures in place to combat impaired driving are coming as a result of a recent $58,000 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to the City of Hollister. The Hollister Police Department is dedicated to keeping our streets safe through both enforcement and education of driving under the influence, according to the statement.
“Impaired driving continues to be prevalent in Hollister. This grant award provides funds for extra patrols and other actions to reduce the incidence of driving under the influence in our community,” said Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller in the release.
The special DUI Enforcement and Awareness Grant is designed to assist in efforts to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol and other drug related collisions in the community. The grant activities will specifically target impaired driving offenders as well as educate the public on the dangers
of impaired driving. This will be done through the use of DUI/driver’s license checkpoints, warrant searches and stakeouts for repeat DUI offenders, saturation patrols, and court stings where DUI offenders with suspended or revoked driver licenses who get behind the wheel after leaving court are arrested.
Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. In 2009, over 10,839 people died in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.California data for 2009 shows that 950 people died in Alcohol Impaired Collisions, a 7.6 percent reduction in deaths from 2008.
“Everyone in California should be heartened with these figures,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). “But as encouraging as this is, we can’t let up on the efforts to promote and enforce traffic safety. Far too many are still losing their lives or being severely injured on our roadways.”
Hollister police officers will be conducting specialized enforcement efforts throughout the course of the next year. Extra officers will be on duty patrolling areas frequented by motorcycles. Officers will be cracking down on traffic violations made by motorcyclists, and other vehicle drivers, that result in far too many motorcycle collisions, injuries and deaths.
“These figures represent more people making it home safely and alive each day,” said Murphy. “But to keep this trend going, we will continue to strive to meet our vision – 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.
