SACRAMENTO,
Calif. – Excessive speed and aggressive driving are a major concern on
California freeways. A federally funded
grant will continue to help support the California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) lifesaving
grant campaign targeting dangerous driving behaviors.
The goal
of the Regulate Aggressive Driving and Reduce Speed (RADARS) VI grant is
to decrease traffic crashes attributed to speed and the number of people killed
and injured in these crashes. In federal
fiscal year 2018-2019, speed was a factor in approximately 45 percent of all
fatal and injury-causing crashes in California.
That year, 36,036 speed-related crashes killed 335 people and injured
53,060 others.
“Reckless
driving behaviors are a significant threat to all who use California’s
roadways,” said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray.
“The RADARS grant will provide for a focused education and enforcement
campaign targeting speeding motorists and aggressive driving behaviors,
including street racing and sideshow activities, to help prevent crashes
resulting in death or injury.”
Since the
start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, CHP has noted a significant increase
in incidents of unsafe driving behaviors: motorists exceeding 100 miles per hour on
state highways, illicit street racing and sideshow activities, and
speed-related crashes.
Between
April 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, the CHP issued more than 44,500 citations
to motorists traveling in excess of 100 MPH.
To address the issue, the CHP used federal grant funding to conduct enhanced
speed enforcement operations on state routes with a history of speed-related incidents,
collaborated with local law enforcement agencies to create street racing and sideshow
task forces, and conducted social media campaigns to educate the public about
the dangers of speeding, aggressive driving, and street racing. The RADARS grant will allow the CHP to
conduct a comparable campaign from October l, 2021, through September 30, 2022.
Funding
for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic
Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The
mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and
Security.
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