Gov. Kay Ivey recently announced $3.3 million in grant funding will be awarded to Auburn University, the University of Alabama, and the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) in order to support efforts to improve safety on the state's highways.
According to the governor's office, Auburn University’s Media Production Group will develop media campaigns aimed at encouraging drivers to obey state safety laws and avoid risky behavior while driving. The group will use data compiled by the University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety (CAPS) and the ADPH. The ADPH will also conduct a safety campaign geared toward properly securing children in child safety seats.
The University of Alabama’s CAPS, which was awarded about $1.9 million, will continue to develop programs and compile data on crashes, seatbelt use, and other statistical information that help the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and other agencies pinpoint “hot spots” where crashes often occur, leading to stepped up patrols and checkpoints in those areas.
Auburn University was awarded a total of $1.1 million for media campaigns to warn motorists of the dangers of driving while texting and/or impaired and not wearing seatbelts. Much of the campaigns will occur around holidays and heavy traffic periods and coincide with nationwide traffic-safety campaigns like “Click It or Ticket” and “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”.
The ADPH will use a $60,000 grant to maintain a database involving the types of injuries suffered by people involved in automobile crashes and their health statuses. The federally required information is added to a nationwide database. Additionally, a $200,000 grant will provide a three-day training course for child-safety-seat certification and will enable the department to conduct programs throughout the state to teach motorists the proper techniques for installing child safety seats and fastening children in the seats.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants from funds made available through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the state Traffic Safety Trust Fund.
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SOURCE: Office of Gov. Kay Ivey
