SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Police Department was awarded a $175,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), which will aid the department’s efforts to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries on city streets.
“This state funding lends an important assist to our efforts on Vision Zero, San Francisco’s ambitious policy framework aimed at prioritizing street safety and eliminating traffic fatalities,” said SFPD Commander Daniel Perea. “In addition to facilitating DUI-related checkpoints and patrols, the funding will enable us to step up enforcement for SFPD’s ‘Focus on the Five’ initiative, which targets five of the most persistently dangerous traffic violations: running red lights; running stop signs; violating pedestrian rights of way; speeding; and turning violations.”
The SFPD indicated that the one-year grant is for the 2022 federal fiscal year, which runs from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022. The grant will fund a variety of traffic safety programs, including those emphasizing:
- Alcohol and drug-impaired driving prevention;
- Awareness and education of California’s hands-free cell phone law;
- Education on traffic rights for bicyclists and pedestrians;
- Awareness and education for primary causes of collisions such as excess speed, failure to yield, failure to stop at stop signs and signals, and improper turning and lane changes;
- Community education presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, DUI, speed, bicycle and pedestrian safety; and
- Officer training and/or recertification: Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.