Police: Grant Will Reduce DUI Deaths and Injuries

A new traffic safety grant will help the Newport Beach Police Department target DUI drivers and hopefully make the roadways safer, police reported Tuesday.

The $75,500 grant was awarded to the Newport Beach Police Department by the California Office of Traffic Safety for an anti-DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on Newport Beach roadways.

"While the numbers of impaired accident victims is decreasing, we still have more work to do. One fatality due to impaired driving is one too many," Newport Beach police Lt. Jeff Lu said in a released statement. "The Newport Beach Police Department is committed to using the funds provided through the Office of Traffic Safety to have more officers patrolling our roadways, in an effort to combat impaired driving.”

Authorities reported drunk and drugged drivers are among America’s deadliest crimes. In 2011, 774 people were killed and over 24,000 injured in alcohol and drug-impaired crashes in California. Last year, Newport Beach experienced zero deaths but 44 people injured in these types of crashes.

Officials said crashes involving alcohol have been shown to drop by up to 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough.

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