Full Notification

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                               October 14, 2021          

CONTACT:  Sgt. M. McGehee
Santa Maria Police Department
805-928-3781 X.2291
[email protected]
 
Santa Maria Police Department Awarded $290,000 Grant From the OTS Office of Traffic Safety
                                               
Santa Maria, Calif. – The Santa Maria Police Department will roll out a police traffic services program to deter dangerous and illegal driving behaviors that increase the risk of crashes in the community.
 
“Impairment, speeding and other dangerous driving behaviors jeopardize the safety of other people on the road,” Santa Maria Police Department Traffic Sergeant Michael McGehee said. “This funding allows us to provide necessary traffic enforcement measures with the goal of reducing serious injury and fatal crashes on our roads,”
 
The grant will pay for additional enforcement measures, including:

• DUI checkpoints and patrols specifically focused on suspected impaired drivers.
• Enforcement operations focused on suspected distracted drivers in violation of California’s hands-free cell phone law.
• Bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operations focused on driver behaviors that put vulnerable road users at risk.
• Enforcement operations focused on top violations that cause crashes: speeding, failure to yield, stop sign and/or red-light running, and improper turning or lane changes.

• Community education presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, DUI, speeding, and bicycle and pedestrian safety.
• Officer training and/or recertification: Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).

 
The grant program will run through September 2022.
 
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Prepared by: Traffic Sergeant McGehee