GRANT TO CHP ADDRESSES DANGEROUS DRIVING

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – To decrease deaths and injuries caused by speed and aggressive driving, two of California’s main contributors in traffic collisions, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) has begun a year-long, grant-funded education and enforcement campaign.

The primary goal of the Regulate Aggressive Driving and Reduce Speed (RADARS) III grant is to reduce the number of collisions where speed, improper turning, and driving on the wrong side of the road are the primary factors leading to death or injury.

This grant will enable the CHP to provide more enforcement and education to motorists about the dangers of aggressive driving.

“Speed is the number one cause of traffic collisions in California,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “With this grant, the California Highway Patrol will strive to change this dangerous behavior through increased enforcement and education.”

In Federal Fiscal Year 2015-2016, speed was a factor in approximately 45 percent of all fatal and injury collisions in the state. That year, more than 36,000 speed-related collisions resulted in the death of more than 370 people and the injury of nearly 53,000 people.

Street racing and sideshows, an increasing problem now spreading to major traffic arteries, are also addressed through the RADARS III grant. An active public awareness campaign and enhanced enforcement, which will deploy additional officers to provide more patrols to affected areas, will focus on the expanding problem.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.