MILWAUKEE WINS FEDERAL HELP TO CONTROL AGGRESSIVE DRIVING |
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NHTSA
October 7, 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NHTSA 68-98
Wednesday October 7, 1998
Contact: Mike Russell
Tel. No. (202) 366-9550
Transportation Secretary Slater Announces Award of Funds to City and Police Department
U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today announced the award of $476,525 to the City of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Police Department for an 18-month demonstration project designed to reduce the growing problem of aggressive driving, the first federally-funded program of its kind in the nation.
The Milwaukee initiative is a one-of-a-kind project. The total grant of $650,241, which includes a local match of $173,716, will fund a study of aggressive driving and provide information and enforcement results to law enforcement agencies across the U.S.
"Aggressive driving is more than a traffic problem. It is a growing threat to public safety," Secretary Slater said. "What we learn from Milwaukee will go a long way toward improving safety around the country, which is President Clinton's highest transportation priority."
The department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will work closely with Milwaukee and Wisconsin officials in their efforts to control aggressive driving.
"For too many families, the consequences of just a single instant of aggressive driving are often tragic," NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez, M.D., said. "The cost of losing your cool is too high."
Milwaukee competed with 26 other metropolitan areas for the initial federal aggressive driving enforcement grant. Police Chief Arthur Jones said while the city's traffic citations have doubled as the result of efforts to make neighborhoods safer, offenses most commonly associated with aggressive driving remain a problem.
The goals of the Milwaukee project include:
* developing an innovative enforcement strategy to reduce aggressive driving.
* developing and evaluating the effectiveness of public information and education programs to discourage aggressive driving.
* documenting the involvement of drugs and alcohol.
* identifying legislative, prosecutorial and judicial needs to address the problem.
* reducing the area's per capita congestion costs, fuel waste, and lost person hours because of congestion.
The Milwaukee aggressive driving/innovative enforcement grant is part of a comprehensive DOT/NHTSA program to combat the growing problem. The department will soon release results of a national survey of aggressive driving practices. In 1999, the department will host a national summit consisting of law enforcement, prosecutors and members of the judiciary to solicit input to develop a workable definition of aggressive driving, guidelines for law enforcement and the judiciary for charging and sentencing, and materials to increase awareness of the issue.
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