Santa Monica Police Receive $300K Grant to Help Prevent Traffic Deaths

SANTA MONICA, CA -- The Santa Monica Police Department was award a $300,000 grant for a public awareness program to prevent traffic deaths and injuries, the department announced Thursday.

The department said it will use the funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety as part of the city's ongoing effort to keep the roads safe.

“I am encouraged by the continued support from the California Office of Traffic Safety and its commitment towards promoting safety on the roadways in Santa Monica.” SMPD Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said. “The grant will assist the department in providing several methods towards improving traffic and pedestrian safety.”

After falling to a 10-year low in 2010, the number of persons killed has climbed nearly 17 percent across the state with 3,176 killed in 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Pedestrian and bicycle deaths have risen in the past six years, the NHTSA said.

The grant will help combat distracted drivers, drug-impaired driving -- an emergence danger -- and other problems such as drunken driving, speeding and crashes at intersections, the department said.

“Years of research tell us that enforcement and education work best jointly to combat unsafe driving,” OTS director Rhonda Craft said. “This grant brings both tactics together, with the Office of Traffic Safety and the Santa Monica Police Department working in concert to help keep the streets and highways safe across Santa Monica and the state.”

Several of the activities the grant will fund include: educational presentations, DUI checkpoints, DUI saturation patrols, bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement, motorcycle safety enforcement, distracted driving enforcement and seat belt/child safety seat enforcement.

Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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