Nearly $260 million in highway safety grants were released by the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The funding, provided to improve traffic safety, was awarded to offices in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a DOT press release said. The funding is 31% greater than the previous fiscal year.
“Traffic crashes take the lives of too many Americans, but these tragedies are not inevitable, and we will not accept them as part of everyday life,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release. “Bolstered by additional funding from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these grants will save lives by improving safety on America's roadways.”
State and Community Highway Safety Program funds comprise $133.3 million of the grants, the release said. The programs will involve safe driving campaigns, education on seat belt use and child safety seats, and improving support programs and traffic records.
An additional $123.4 million will go towards the National Priority Incentives Program, which will ‘include nearly $70 million for impaired driving countermeasures; $19 million for state traffic safety information systems to help states build databases related to crashes; more than $17 million for occupant protection including seat belt education and enforcement; more than $9 million for distracted driving prevention; $6.6 million for pedestrian and bicyclist safety programs; and $2 million for motorcyclist safety,’ the release said,
The NHTSA said the funding is part of $13 billion aimed for roadway safety provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“The variety of funds available allows each state to target its specific challenges,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Dr. Steven Cliff said in the release. “Traffic safety may be a national problem, but the solutions are regional and local.”
DOT will release its first National Roadway Safety Strategy in January, which will outline new policies and procedures to reduce vehicle-related fatalities and injuries, the release said.
