Public Safety Campaigns Designed to Save Lives
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) issued two press releases in the first part of October 2020, announcing new safety campaigns they will be promoting.
Putting The Brakes on Speed
The first campaign is aimed at reducing excessive speed and aggressive driving – two conditions that are significant causes of injuries and deaths on California’s roadways. Federal funds will assist the CHP to procure additional resources with the goal of reducing speed-related collisions throughout the state.
On the first of this month, the CHP started a year-long program entitled the Regulate Aggressive Driving and Reduce Speed (RADARS) grant. The primary goal of the grant is to decrease the number of fatalities and injuries caused by crashes that occur as a result of unsafe speeds. In order to achieve this, the agency will enhance enforcement efforts and promote statewide public awareness campaigns. The grant will also provide funding to let officers focus on enforcement of sideshow and street racing activities, which are problems that are increasing statewide.
Speeding, street racing, and aggressive driving represent a significant hazard to everyone that uses California roads. In the 2017-2018 federal fiscal year, speed was a contributing factor in approximately 31% of all injury-causing and fatal crashes in our state. During that fiscal year, 547 fatalities occurred, and almost 90,000 people were injured in the more than 61,000 speed-related crashes throughout the state.
Motorcycle Safety Awareness
Shortly after issuing a press release on the RADARS grant, the CHP announced that they would also be promoting a motorcycle safety awareness campaign statewide. This program is entitled “Get Educated and Ride Safe,” or GEARS III, which is a year-long program focused on enforcement and education efforts. The program will be funded by federal monies, specifically through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which operates under the California Office of Traffic Safety.
The number one goal of GEARS III is to decrease the number of crashes that involve motorcycles. In the 2017-2018 federal fiscal year, the number of crashes that involved motorcycles increased by about 3% within the jurisdiction of the CHP. The good news is that the provisional numbers for the federal fiscal year of 2018-2019 show a decrease of about 10%.
According to the CHP Commissioner, while the objective is overall highway safety, not solely motorcycle safety, this grant will go toward an increase in the CHP’s motorcycle safety activities in areas that have a high number of motorcycle-related incidents. One of the traffic safety campaigns is earmarked to begin in May 2021, since May has been designated as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. Some of the other campaigns will promote the use by riders of helmets that are compliant with the U.S. Department of Transportation standards. Others are aimed at raising vehicle motorist awareness about sharing the roads with motorcyclists. There will also be a focus on the most hazardous traffic violations, including improper turns, excessive speed, and driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
Watch the YouTube video from the CHP about motorcycle safety.
Roseville Personal Injury Lawyer
Hello. Thanks for reading. I’m Ed Smith, a personal injury lawyer in Roseville, California. For nearly 40 years, I have worked on behalf of Roseville residents who were injured due to another’s negligence. Do not feel the need to handle insurance adjusters and manage your physical recovery on your own – let us help. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident, my office will be happy to dispense free and friendly advice. Call us at (916) 921-6400 within the local area, or use our toll-free line, (800) 404-5400, if you will be calling from outside the area. My website also includes an option to communicate with us online: contact form.
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