PR: TRAFFIC SAFETY GRANT AIMS TO REDUCE DRUNK AND DRUGGED DRIVING AMONG TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: February 8, 2024
CONTACT: Carmen Schuette, Community Education Specialist, 530-229-8424, cschuette@shastacounty.gov

TRAFFIC SAFETY GRANT AIMS TO REDUCE DRUNK AND DRUGGED DRIVING AMONG TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS

SHASTA COUNTY – Shasta County Health & Human services Agency (HHSA) is proud to announce it has been awarded $274,884.00 from the California Office of Traffic Safety to reduce motor-vehicle-related deaths and injuries. This safe driving grant will fund education focused on preventing drug and alcohol-impaired driving among teens and young adults. It will also include education on distracted driving prevention and pedestrian safety. According to the latest data available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the number of teens who died in a motor-vehicle crash increased for the second consecutive year, averaging more than eight deaths per day. The grant will run through September 2024.

According to NHTSA, every day, about 37 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes. That’s one person every 39 minutes. In 2021, 13,384 people died in alcohol-impaired traffic collisions (a 14% increase from 2020). Office of Traffic Safety Rankings for 2020 indicate that out of 58 counties in California, Shasta County ranked 18th worst in the number of alcohol-involved collisions.

Grant activities will include teen and adult traffic safety education through distribution of educational materials, activities on high school and college campuses, and social media messaging. To help at-risk teens consider the consequences of impaired driving, HHSA will conduct DUI prevention campaigns at continuation high schools.

To find local resources and information about traffic safety, visit www.facebook.com/drivesafeshasta. For more information on talking to teens about impaired driving, visit www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/teen-driving.

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

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