Community News

Newport Beach Police Department Receives Grant for Special Traffic Enforcement and Crash Prevention

by: Heather Range
Posted: November 12, 2018

NEWPORT BEACH...The Newport Beach Police Department has been awarded a $225,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a year-long program of special enforcement and public awareness efforts to prevent traffic-related deaths and injuries. The Newport Beach Police Department will use the funding as part of the City’s ongoing commitment to keep our roadways safe and improve the quality of life through both enforcement and education.

"By partnering with OTS, our Department is committed to making the streets of Newport Beach as safe as possible by focusing our efforts on such things as bicycle and pedestrian safety, distracted driving, motorcycle safety, DUI prevention, and public education. The grant funds awarded to us by OTS are an effective force multiplier, thereby allowing us to concentrate on preventing tragedies while making a positive impact for those who live, work, and play in the City of Newport Beach,” said Lieutenant Joe Cartwright, the Traffic Services Commander for the Newport Beach Police Department.

In 2016, 3,623 people were killed in crashes across the state, a 7 percent increase from 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Particularly alarming is the rise in pedestrian deaths, with 867 pedestrians killed on California roadways in 2016, a nearly 33 percent increase from 2012.

“Almost all crashes are preventable,” OTS director Rhonda Craft said. “Education and enforcement go hand in hand helping change behaviors that cause devastating crashes.”

Activities funded by the grant will include:

Educational Presentations, DUI Checkpoints, DUI Saturation Patrols, Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Enforcement, Motorcycle Safety Enforcement, Distracted Driving Enforcement, Speed, Red Light, and Stop Sign Enforcement

While alcohol remains the worst offender for DUI collisions, The Newport Beach Police Department supports the new effort from OTS to raise awareness that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” Prescription medications and marijuana can impair drivers on their own, or in combination with alcohol, and can result in a DUI arrest.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.