OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT
NEWS RELEASE
INCIDENT: | Grant for Special Traffic Enforcement and Crash Prevention |
DATE/TIME: | October 24, 2017, 12:30 p.m.
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LOCATION: | City of Oxnard |
PREPARED BY: | Ricardo Vazquez, Traffic Sergeant, (805) 385-7847 |
CONTACT PERSON AND CONTACT INFO: | Jamie Brown, Traffic Senior Officer
(805) 385-7749 jamie.brown@oxnardpd.org
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DETAILS:
The Oxnard Police Department Receives Grant For
Special Traffic Enforcement and Crash Prevention
The Oxnard Police Department has been awarded a $585,000.00 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 Oxnard 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.
Oxnard Police Commander Denise Shadinger commented that “through OTS grant funding, the Oxnard Police Department can supplement enforcement and education efforts to make our roadways safer for our community.” Commander Shadinger also expressed gratitude for “the support from OTS and mutual commitment to creating safer roadways for our motorists through collision and impaired driving reduction.”
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 Oxnard Police Department, with assistance from the Office of Traffic Safety, will use these tools to help keep Oxnard 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
- Seatbelt and child safety seat enforcement
- Speed, red light, and stop sign enforcement
- Warrant service on multiple DUI offenders
While alcohol remains the worst offender for DUI crashes, the Oxnard Police Department supports the new effort from OTS that aims to drive awareness that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” Prescription medications and marijuana can also be impairing by themselves, or in combination with alcohol, and can result in a DUI arrest.
Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.