AASHTO Journal - Alabama Governor Authorizes $3.3M in Highway Safety Grants

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey (R) (seen above) awarded $3.3 million in grants to Auburn University, the University of Alabama and the Alabama Department of Public Health on August 22 to fund a variety of highway safety data gathering and public outreach efforts.

The Alabama Department of Public Health will also conduct a safety campaign geared toward properly securing children in child safety seats, the governor noted in a statement.

“No matter your allegiance, having these two flagship universities team up with Public Health creates a winning situation for everyone on our roadways,” Gov. Ivey said. “I am pleased to provide these funds to support these important programs that complement the work our law enforcement officers perform each day to increase safety on Alabama’s roads.”

The University of Alabama’s Center for Advanced Public Safety or CAPS initiative is getting $1.9 million to continue developing programs and compiling data on motor vehicle crashes, seatbelt use, and other statistical information that help the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and other agencies pinpoint “hot spots” where crashes often occur, leading to stepped up patrols and checkpoints in those areas.

Auburn University is getting $1.1 million for media campaigns to warn motorists of the dangers of driving while texting and/or impaired and not wearing seatbelts. Much of the campaigns will occur around holidays and heavy traffic periods and coincide with nationwide traffic-safety campaigns like “Click It or Ticket” and “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”

The Alabama Department of Public Health will use a $60,000 grant to maintain a database involving the types of injuries suffered by people involved in automobile crashes and their health statuses, noting that this federally-required information will be added to a nationwide database.

Additionally, a $200,000 grant will provide a three-day training course for child-safety-seat certification and will enable the department to conduct programs throughout the state to teach motorists the proper techniques for installing child safety seats and fastening children in the seats.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants from funds made available through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the state’s Traffic Safety Trust Fund.