U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater Announces Nearly $1 Million for Texas to Help Reduce Alcohol-Related Crashes

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater Announces Nearly $1 Million for Texas to Help Reduce Alcohol-Related Crashes

Topics: Rodney E. Slater

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater Announces Nearly $1 Million for Texas to Help Reduce Alcohol-Related Crashes

NHTSA
September 30, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NHTSA 46-99
Thursday, September 30, 1999
Contact: NHTSA, Tim Hurd, (202) 366-9550

"A strong message and tough state laws have done a lot to bring about a change in the public's attitude toward impaired driving," said Secretary Slater. "Safety is President Clinton's highest transportation priority and these funds will help save lives."

The funds will assist the state in increasing levels of law enforcement with heightened publicity through a 30-month demonstration and evaluation program.

Unlike a grant, a cooperative agreement involves closer participation by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the state during administration of the program. To receive the funding, Texas submitted a proposal that met specific requirements for administering the demonstration program.

Texas plans to use the federal funding to purchase new equipment for local law enforcement agencies, such as preliminary breath testers and video taping units; provide mini-grants to local law enforcement agencies as incentives to enhance enforcement activities; provide funds for media materials at the local level; and support the establishment of a state law enforcement task force that can aid in statewide information sharing and program implementation.

Funding will also support a program evaluation that will provide critical information needed by the law enforcement community on the extent to which roving and saturation patrols can reduce alcohol-related crashes.

"In 1998, a person was killed every 30 minutes in an alcohol-related crash. In Texas alone, 1,792 people died last year," said Ricardo Martinez, M.D., administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Programs like this one in Texas will redouble our efforts to reduce the number of these crashes and the tragedies that accompany them."

This 30-month effort in Texas hopes to demonstrate that a comprehensive and sustained law enforcement effort combined with publicity directed at getting safety messages about this program to the public can result in a substantial drop in alcohol-related crashes. ###