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OHOS receives three major grants
to support highway safety efforts

OHOS secures more than $1.5 million from NHTSA for safety activities
ITD’s Office of Highway Operations and Safety recently landed three grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) totaling more than $1.5 million for Idaho’s highway safety activities.

OHOS was awarded $500,000 under the Section 408 State Traffic Safety Information System Improvement Grant Program. The money will be used to improve the traffic records systems so that other program and project decisions can be made based on accurate and complete data.

The grant application process requires detailed documentation on current projects to improve traffic data that involve not just traffic crashes, but also vehicles, drivers, injury, adjudication, and infrastructure.

“Better access to more reliable data, in turn, will allow your highway safety professionals to design and manage more effective strategies for reducing crashes, deaths and injuries,” said Ronald L. Medford, NHTSA acting deputy director, in the award letter.

“The actions that Idaho has taken in addressing these serious problems are to be commended,” he added.

NHTSA also awarded ITD $100,000 to support efforts to reduce deaths and serious injuries related to motorcycles. The funds can be used to fund motorcycle safety education programs and motorcycle awareness programs. Awards were made to states that implement effective programs to reduce the number of crashes involving motorcyclists.

Idaho qualified for the funding because the state offers motorcycle rider training courses and uses fees collected from motorcyclists for motorcycle programs.

More than $980,000 was awarded to ITD by NHTSA to continue work to reduce traffic impaired driving in Idaho.

Idaho’s portion of the Section 410 Alcohol Impaired Driving Countermeasures Incentive Grant Program is about equal to last year.

Idaho received funding because the state's programs and laws met the grant application criteria in the following areas; a high visibility enforcement campaign, a prosecution and adjudication program, a blood alcohol concentration testing program that met the minimum testing criteria, an alcohol rehabilitation or driving while intoxicated court program and an underage drinking prevention program.

Funding for the motorcycle and impaired driving highway safety efforts will be used to reduce traffic deaths in Idaho related to impaired driving and motorcycle crashes as part of Toward Zero Deaths, Every Life Counts, Idaho’s efforts to reduce needless traffic deaths.