The Gilroy Police Department has been awarded a new traffic safety grant for an anti-DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on the City of Gilroy’s roadways, according to a press release from the Gilroy Police Department.
Enforcement measures to combat impaired driving are coming as a result of a recent $26,400 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to the City of Gilroy.
“DUI prevention education and DUI oriented enforcement have proven to save lives throughout our nation. We remain committed to reducing DUI related crashes in our community. Our Traffic Division has done a tremendous job seeking funding sources to facilitate this endeavor. We are very pleased with this award from the California Office of Traffic Safety. This will assist our DUI enforcement efforts,” said GPD Chief Denise Turner.
The special grant is meant to assist in efforts to reduce the number of people killed and injured in alcohol and other drug-related collisions in the community. The grant activities will specifically target impaired driving offenders as well as educating the public on the dangers of impaired driving through the use of DUI/driver’s license checkpoints. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving, the GPD states.
Driving under the influences of alcohol or drugs is among America’s deadliest crimes, police state. In 2011, a low of 774 people were killed and more than 24,000 injured in alcohol and drug-impaired crashes in California. In 2011, the City of Gilroy experienced more than 124 injury collisions, seven of which were caused by driving under the influence.
Crashes involving alcohol have been shown to drop by up to 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough, according to the GPD. Checkpoints have proven to be the most effective of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding a considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent and are supported by nearly 90 percent of California drivers, the GPD states.
