COLUMBUS — Area law enforcement agencies have been awarded grants to promote traffic safety and reduce traffic-related fatalities.
The Ohio Traffic Safety Office has distributed over $24 million to support statewide programming, according to a press release.
These funds are aimed at improving traffic safety and saving lives across the state.
A total of 189 grants were awarded, with 159 going to 145 local agencies in 63 counties, and 30 grants went for statewide initiatives.
The grants focus on several traffic safety priority areas, including impaired driving, seat belt usage, speeding, distracted driving, youth driving and motorcycle safety.
The funds were directed to the Ohio Traffic Safety Office from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“These grants will support the ongoing efforts in Ohio to save lives and reduce injuries on our roads,” Gov. Mike DeWine said in the release. “From raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving to increasing enforcement to take impaired drivers off the streets, these programs will contribute to making the roads safer for everyone.”
Receiving grants for impaired driving/selective traffic enforcement are:
- Ashland County Sheriff’s Office: $41,439
- Crawford County Sheriff’s Office: $28,851
- Marion County Sheriff’s Office: $52,773
- Marion Police Department: $54,601
- Mansfield Police Department: $28,178
- Richland County Sheriff’s Office: $73,989
The funding will be used to support various programs, including statewide education, enforcement and awareness initiatives, impaired driving enforcement and selective traffic enforcement programs, summer holiday enforcement programs, dedicated traffic enforcement programs, countywide OVI task forces and safe community programs.
The competitive grant process solicited proposals from state agencies, non-profit organizations, colleges, universities, hospitals, political subdivisions and other interested groups within selected Ohio counties and jurisdictions based on the number of fatal crashes.
“Ohio is on track to see a decline in fatal crashes this year, but we have much more work to do,” Emily Davidson, Ohio Traffic Safety Office director, said in the release. “In recent years, Ohio has seen encouraging improvements in some safety areas, such as an increase in seat belt use and a decrease in distracted driving. These grant funds will allow us to keep making progress.”
This story was created by Jane Imbody, jimbody@gannett.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/.
