Traffic Safety Dispatch

Transcription

1 Traffic Safety Dispatch Inside this issue: November 2014 NHTSA Holiday Crackdowns Changes to National Law Enforcement Challenge Application National Law Enforcement Challenge Winners This holiday season, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is asking your agency to remind drivers to wear their seat belts and designate a sober driver. The crackdown periods for Holiday Season 2014 are November 27 (occupant protection), November 28-December 9 and December (impaired driving). Thanksgiving Holiday Travel: November 27, 2014 The Thanksgiving holiday is one of the busiest travel times of the year and anticipation of the celebrations may cause drivers to pay less attention to ensuring that travel to their destination is done as safely as possible. During the 2012 Thanksgiving weekend, 301 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes nationwide, 60 percent of which were not wearing seat belts. Holiday Season 2014 Thanksgiving Holiday Travel: November 27, 2014 Pre-Holiday Season Festivities: November 28 December 9, 2014 Holiday Season Drunk Driving Prevention: December 12, January 1, 2015 Campaign Materials High Visibility Enforcement Social Norming Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective way to save your life and the lives of your loved ones while on the road. So this Thanksgiving, make sure those in your community know that drivers and passengers need to be wearing their seatbelts every time they are in a moving vehicle. With the help of highway safety advocates and local law enforcement officers, we can increase seat belt use and save lives on our roadways. Utilize statistics provided by NHTSA to increase awareness about the importance of wearing you seat belt: According to the U.S. Department of Transportation s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seat belts saved over 12,000 lives nationwide in In the same year, 52 percent of the 21,667 passenger vehicle occupants killed in motor vehicle crashes were NOT wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. (Continued on page 2)

2 Page 2 Traffic Safety Dispatch Cont. Holiday Season 2014 (Continued from page 1) Nighttime (6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.) is an especially dangerous time because people are less likely to wear a seat belt. During the 2012 Thanksgiving weekend, 60 percent of the 301 passenger vehicle occupants who were killed in nighttime crashes were not wearing their seat belts. This was a tragic 9 percent decline in seatbelt use from Thanksgiving weekend in Research shows that with proper seat belt use, the risk of fatal injury to front seat passengers is reduced by 45 percent, and the risk of moderate to serious injury is reduced by 60 percent. Pre-Holiday Season Drunk Driving Prevention: Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving November 28 - December 9, 2014 Campaign Materials Enforcement Social Norming Although drunk driving fatalities occur all year round, statistics show that the roadways are especially dangerous during the holiday season. This holiday season, highway safety partners and law enforcement agencies across the country are urged to remind their community that they will have zero tolerance for those who drive impaired. Individuals who have had anything to drink should not get behind the wheel of a car and seek a sober driver instead. Share these four simple ways for community members to ensure a safe ride home for themselves and others: Designate a sober driver before the party begins; plan a way to get home safely at the end of the night. If you are impaired, call a taxi, phone a sober friend or family member, use public transportation or call your local free ride program. Be responsible. If someone you know is drinking, do not let that person get behind the wheel. If you see an impaired driver on the road, contact law enforcement. Your actions may save someone s life, and inaction could cost a life. (Holiday Season 2014 continued on page 3)

3 Page 3 Cont. Holiday Season 2014 (Continued from page 2) Holiday Season 2014: Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over High Visibility Enforcement: December 12, January 1, 2015 For many Americans, holiday cheer involves consuming alcohol at parties and holiday events, so it comes as no surprise that there is a spike in drunk driving crashes each December. Here are a few important statistics that law enforcement officials can communicate to their communities to impress the seriousness of impaired driving upon them: During the 2012 holiday period (December 12-31), 31% of the 1,698 people killed in crashes involved an impaired driver. Compared with other age groups, teen drivers are at greater risk of death in alcohol-related crashes, despite the fact that they are too young to legally possess or consume alcohol. In 2012, more than half (53%) of drunk drivers had at least one prior DUI conviction on their record. In many jurisdictions, refusing a breathalyzer test results in immediate arrest, loss of your driver s license, and the impoundment of your vehicle. Some DUI offenders say the reason they drove drunk was because a cab was too expensive. However, the average DUI violation costs around $10,000. Can you afford that? This year, NHTSA will release two digital holiday enforcement videos in English and Spanish with the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over tagline and our Spanish language campaign tagline, Maneja Tomado Y Seras Arrestado, as well as a mobile app. The mobile app will allow drivers who have had too much to drink to call a taxi, a friend, or find their location. The campaign assets will also include social media tips, tweets, and infographics for state use. For the latest campaign updates, please visit the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign website or for additional campaign materials visit

4 Page 4 Traffic Safety Dispatch 2015 National Law Enforcement Challenge Updates to Application By participating in the National Law Enforcement Challenge (NLEC), law enforcement agencies are actively serving their communities by making them a safer place to live. The focus of the NLEC is to address traffic safety issues and reduce injuries, save lives, and detect and deter crime. NLEC application criteria focuses on Occupant Protection, Impaired Driving, and Speed Awareness. Applying agencies must also choose a State/Local Issue that allows agencies to describe a community-specific traffic safety issue and how it is being addressed in their jurisdiction. New Application Format: Fillable PDF In order to provide participating agencies with the cleanest and most efficient way to submit their applications to the 2015 NLEC, the format has been changed so that agencies can fill in their narrative summaries of their year-round efforts in each main category on a PDF form. Each summary should be at least 500 and no more than 2,000 characters. Additionally, agencies should be prepared to answer questions regarding basic agency information and enforcement statistics for each category on this form. This will be available for download off of the NLEC website ( in December New Resources for NLEC Applicants For the first time, model applications from select agencies will be available for viewing on the NLEC website. These were selected from the pool of winners of the 2014 NLEC so future applicants can study and shape their submissions into winning applications. Along with the model applications, a new basic template will be provided so agencies can format their attachments into an easy-to-read format.

5 Page National Law Enforcement Challenge Winners Congratulations to all of the 2014 National Law Enforcement Challenge Winners! Municipal 1-25 Sworn Officers Geneseo Police Department, NY Princess Anne Police Department, MD Ashland Police Department, VA Municipal Sworn Officers Peachtree City Police Department, GA Novato Police Department, CA Carol Stream Police Department, IL Municipal Sworn Officers Roanoke County Police Department, VA Roanoke Police Department, VA Brownsville, GA Municipal 251 or More Sworn Officers Henrico County Police Division, VA Anne Arundel County Police, MD Clarksville Police Department, TN Sheriff 1-50 Sworn Deputies Westmoreland County Sheriff s Office, VA Lathrop Police Services/San Joaquin County Sheriff s Office, CA New Kent County Sheriff s Office, VA State Police/Highway Patrol 1,501 or More Sworn Ohio State Patrol New Jersey State Police Other Agencies College/University Law Enforcement Virginia Commonwealth University Police Department, VA State University of New York - Oswego, NY Cornell University Police, NY International Agencies Federal Highway Police - Brazil Military Police Fort Campbell Police, KY Fort Carson Police Department, CO Regional Enforcement Efforts Iowa Department of Public Safety Sheriff Sworn Deputies St. Mary s County Sheriff s Office, MD Calvert County Sheriff s Office, MD Stafford County Sheriff s Office, VA Sheriff 251 or More Sworn Deputies Shelby County Sheriff s Office, TN Forsyth County Sheriff s Office, GA Hall County Sheriff s Office, GA Special Law Enforcement Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department Vermont Department of Motor Vehicle Enforcement and Safety Division (Continued on page 5) State Police/Highway Patrol Sworn Nebraska State Patrol Maine State Police State Police/Highway Patrol Sworn Washington State Patrol Tennessee Highway Patrol Arizona Department of Public Safety

6 Page 6 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE National Law Enforcement Challenge Winners (Continued from page5) SPECIAL CATEGORY AWARDS Town of Manlius Police Department, NY Tennessee Highway Patrol New Kent County Sheriff s Office, VA Cobb County Police Department, GA Ohio State Highway Patrol Ohio State Highway Patrol Bike/Pedestrian Safety CMV - State Police CMV - Municipal/Sheriff Distracted Driving Impaired Driving Motorcycle Safety Occupant Protection Speed Awareness Clayton J. Hall Memorial Award The Traffic Safety Dispatch is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and published by the Division of State and Provincial Police of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Sharing of material in this newsletter is encouraged. Submissions and comments may be directed to Sarah Horn, IACP, 515 N Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, by at horn@theiacp.org, or calling