The Palm Springs Police Department will roll out a police traffic services program to deter dangerous and illegal driving behaviors that increase the risk of crashes in the community, thanks in part to a state grant.
On Tuesday, the department announced it was receiving $130,000 from the California Office of Traffic Safety via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The money will go toward additional enforcement measures on city streets.
“Impairment, speeding, and other dangerous driving behaviors jeopardize the safety of other people on the road,” said Arnold Galvan, the department’s traffic sergeant. “This funding allows us to provide necessary traffic enforcement measures to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes on our roads.”
The grant program runs through September 2022. Additional enforcement measures include:
- DUI checkpoints and patrols specifically focused on suspected impaired drivers.
- Enforcement operations focused on suspected distracted drivers in violation of California’s hands-free cell phone law.
- Bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operations focused on driver behaviors that put vulnerable road users at risk.
- Enforcement operations focused on top violations that cause crashes: speeding, failure to yield, stop signs and/or red-light running, and improper turning or lane changes.
- Community education presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, DUI, speeding, and bicycle, and pedestrian safety.
- Collaborative enforcement efforts with neighboring agencies.
- Officer training and/or recertification: Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST), Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE), and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).
