Two new areas – distracted driving and drugged driving – that are seeing increases will receive special emphasis. The distracted driving effort began in April and will expand next year. The incidence of drugs alone and in combination with alcohol in fatal crashes has been rising steadily for the last five years. New grants will fund increases in drug recognition training, special district attorneys dedicated to drugged driving cases, and new laboratory drug testing equipment.

Wanting to keep the trend of fatalities in every major category moving downward, grants have been awarded in the other program areas of motorcycle, bicycle and pedestrian safety, putting the latest life saving technology in the hands of emergency responders, and continuing to push for using technology to ease access, gain speed and increase flexibility in data input and usage.

“The drop in fatalities that we have seen in the last five years means that thousands of Californians are with their families today instead of being a traffic statistic,” said Murphy.  “But we cannot let up. There are still thousands whose needless tragedies should have been prevented.”

For a list of 2012 grants, visit the OTS Website at www.ots.ca.gov.