MPPD awarded $70,000 grant to increase road safety

Published on October 28, 2022

Menlo Park, Calif. – The Menlo Park Police Department will increase patrols throughout the community and provide other traffic safety programs to help reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on roads.

“Menlo Park is a community vibrant with activity – pedestrians, bicycles, and our presence as a commute crossroads in the Bay Area make traffic safety incredibly important,” Menlo Park Police Department Chief of Police David Norris said. “This grant funding allows us to focus our traffic safety efforts to stop the most unlawful and dangerous behaviors that put those who live, play and work in Menlo Park at risk.”

The grant will provide additional programs and resources, including:

• DUI checkpoints and patrols focused on stopping suspected impaired drivers.
• High visibility distracted driving enforcement operations targeting drivers in violation of California’s hands-free cell phone law.
• Enforcement operations focused on the most dangerous driver behaviors that put the safety of people biking or walking at risk.
• Enforcement operations focused on top violations that cause crashes: speeding, failure to yield, stop sign and/or red-light running, and improper turning or lane changes.
• Community presentations on traffic safety issues such as distracted driving, impaired driving, speeding, 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).

The grant program will run through September 2023.

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

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