State grant awarded to San Francisco Police Department is a boost to Vision Zero, ‘Focus on the Five’ initiatives to make city streets safer 20-128

The safety of everyone traveling is the focus of a grant awarded to the San Francisco Police Department. The $189,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) will assist in the department’s efforts to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries on San Francisco roads.

“This generous state grant will enhance our ability to help fulfill the promise of Vision Zero, San Francisco’s ambitious policy framework aimed at prioritizing street safety and eliminating traffic fatalities,” said San Francisco Chief of Police William Scott. “In addition to facilitating DUI-related checkpoints and patrols, the funding will enable us to step up enforcement for SFPD’s ‘Focus on the Five’ initiative, which targets five of the most persistently dangerous traffic violations: running red lights; running stop signs; violating pedestrian rights of way; speeding; and turning violations.”

The one-year grant is for the 2021 federal fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021. The grant will fund a variety of traffic safety programs, including those emphasizing:

• Alcohol and drug-impaired driving prevention;

• Awareness and education of California’s hands-free cell phone law;

• Education on traffic rights for bicyclists and pedestrians;

• Awareness and education for primary causes of collisions such as excess speed, failure to yield, failure to stop at stop signs and signals, and improper turning and lane changes;

• Community education presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, DUI, speed, bicycle and pedestrian safety; and

• Officer training and/or recertification: Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.