In this issue:

• St. Patrick’s Day – Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving
• Vehicle Safety Recalls Week
• Speeding Enforcement March 2024
• National Poison Prevention Week
• NHTSA Offers Data Collection Modernization Grants
• ODOT Safe Routes to School Grants Open for 2024
• Hard at Work to Improve Traffic Safety
• Upcoming Events:
• April 2024 - National Distracted Driving Awareness Months
• May 1, 2024 - National Heatstroke Prevention Day
• May 2024 - National Bike Safety Month
• March 27, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. - ODOT Roads to Safety training webinar

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If you are going out to celebrate, be sure to choose a sober driver or have a plan for a sober ride home. It’s best to do this before the party starts. If you’re the designated driver, take your job seriously and don’t drink – at all.

It's illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 g/dL. Most people reach this level by drinking three ounces of liquor, two pints of beer, or eight ounces of wine in one hour. However, even one drink is enough to impair your driving skills.

If you see someone out on the road who appears to be intoxicated or otherwise impaired, report it to law enforcement if it is safe for you to do so. You can call 911 to do this.

March 4-10, 2024, is Vehicle Safety Recalls Week. This coincides with the beginning of Daylight Savings Time on March 10. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is encouraging all drivers to check their vehicles for open safety recalls.

It’s become a tradition to check your home smoke detector’s batteries at the same time as you fix your clocks for the time change, and checking to see if there is an open safety recall on your car is just as quick and easy.

Go to https://nhtsa.gov/Recalls and enter your car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). You can find the VIN on the base of the dashboard on the driver’s side. It’s also printed on your registration and maybe on your insurance card as well.

If you don’t have your car’s VIN, you can also check for recalls on the website by license plate number. Recall information on the site goes back 15 years for major automakers, motorcycle manufacturers and some medium/heavy truck manufacturers.

You can also sign up for recall alerts on the NHTSA website to get an email if your vehicle is involved in a recall in the future. NHTSA also offers the SaferCar app for iOS and Android devices. With this app, you can get notifications of safety recalls for vehicles as well as related equipment like tires, trailers and car seats. The app provides notifications of recalls and information about where to get free repairs.

Speeding Enforcement

March 2024

Law enforcement agencies throughout Oregon will focus on speeding enforcement in March. Data from 2021, the most recent available, shows that 12,330 people were killed in speeding-related crashes nationwide.

That’s an increase of almost 10 percent from 2020 and accounts for nearly one-third of total traffic crash deaths.

Getting where you’re headed a few minutes late won’t kill you, but speeding can. Those few minutes are not worth the price of a speeding ticket, increased insurance rates, or someone’s life, possibly your own.

National Poison Prevention Week

March 17 - 23, 2024

NHTSA Offers Data Collection Modernization Grants

An ultramodern computerized traffic control system, from 1974. NHTSA is offering grants to states to upgrade and modernize how they report traffic crash data.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is offering a grant program to states, territories, and tribal governments to upgrade, modernize and standardize the systems used to report traffic crash data. This grant program was authorized by Congress as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is offering $350 million.

With more modern and standardized systems in place, NHTSA hopes to analyze traffic crash data more quickly and efficiently. This will allow better development of policies and programs to make driving on the nation’s roads safer. Crash data reported to NHTSA under the new systems will also be made available to the public.



More information about the grant program, including how to apply, is available at grants.gov (grants.gov/search-results-detail/352123).

ODOT Safe Routes to School

Grants Open for 2024

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant program is open and accepting applications through March 25, 2024. This ongoing grant program is geared toward making it safer to get to school on foot or by bike.

The Competitive Construction Grants program focuses on making sure safe routes exist through investments in crossings, bike lanes, and similar infrastructure. This program will distribute $26 million to cities, counties, tribes, transit districts and other road authorities. Part 1 is open through March 25 and Part 2 opens May 6.

The Education Grants program focuses on education and outreach to promote awareness and safe use of walking and bicycling routes.

For more information, including a recorded webinar, visit the SRTS website at oregonsaferoutes.org/find-funding.

Hard at Work

to Improve Traffic Safety

Coquille Police Chief Scott Sanders in front of a Coquille PD cruiser. Coquille PD is taking part in saturation patrols focused on traffic safety with help from a grant through Oregon Impact.

The Coquille Police Department is using funds administered by Oregon Impact to increase enforcement of traffic laws including DUII, speeding, seatbelt use and distracted driving. The department conducted the first of three “Safety Belt Blitz” saturation patrols in February, and plan to repeat them in late May and late August. During these patrols, officers will educate drivers about safety belt and child seat laws.

The department is conducting these patrols, as well as patrols focused on driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII), speeding, and distracted driving, under the terms of a grant which covers a part of the overtime pay for the officers who conduct the patrols.

Upcoming Events: Are You Prepared?

Something New is Coming!

Open to all - Please Join us for an ODOT Roads to Safety training webinar on March 27th at 10:30 a.m.

Bikes, Trikes and Automobiles:

Knowing and Enforcing Traffic Laws for Vulnerable Users

This new training webinar for law enforcement will cover topics such as bicycle safety laws that LE need to know to enforce and current topics about e-bikes and legislation updates.

We will also cover where you can get more information on bicycle safety information such as tips and education materials to share with your agency and the public.

Come join us for all the fun as we roll through this first webinar of the exciting ODOT’s Road to Safety Training series!!!

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 220 962 555 438

Passcode: jFgGNk

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+1 503-446-4951,,525328043# United States, Portland Phone Conference ID: 525 328 043#

Next Webinar in May on Speed Racing presented by David Beatty, Traffic Safety Coordinator, Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training

Drive Sober, Safe, and Happy!

from your

Friends at Oregon Impact