The Hollister Police Department has been awarded a $23,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety for a year-long program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on local roadways through special enforcement and a public awareness effort, according to a statement released by police.
The city believes the grant will help an effort to improve traffic safety.
“It is our hope, that with this increased funding for traffic enforcement and crash prevention that we can work towards the goal of zero traffic related deaths and improve traffic safety in the City of Hollister and community at large,” said Interim Chief of Police Dave Westrick in a statement.
According to the police statement: The grant will assist in efforts to deal with traffic safety problems and to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions. While traffic deaths from all causes declined by nearly 39 percent between 2006 and 2010 in California, state and federal officials anticipate that figures will show a slight rise in 2011. DUI deaths remain the largest sector, at nearly 30 percent of traffic fatalities. Recent trends show increases in two new categories – distracted driving and drug-impaired driving.
Activities that the grant will fund include:
- Specialized DUI and drugged driving training such as Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE).
- DUI Saturation Patrols
- Motorcycle safety enforcement
- Distracted driving enforcement
- Seat belt and child safety seat enforcement
- Speed, red light and stop sign enforcement
- Warrant service operations targeting multiple DUI offenders
- Court “sting” operations to cite individuals driving from court after having their driver’s license suspended or revoked for drunk driving
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
