Highway Safety Grant Program

State of New York
STATE OF NEW YORK

February 1, 2008

Governor Spitzer

Dear Members of New York's Traffic Safety Community:

I am pleased to report that New York has been ranked the third safest state in the nation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). According to the study released by the NHTSA, New York's fatality rate per 100,000 is well below the national average. Our state has made tremendous progress in making travel safer for the millions of motorists who use our highways and roads every day. These results are indicative of the time and effort which members of our community have dedicated to traffic safety.

The traffic safety community, in partnership with state and local law makers, has implemented some of the toughest laws and programs in the United States, helping us to attain our goal of reducing highway fatalities and serious injuries. In addition to the State's new law dealing with aggravated DWI charges, imposing tougher penalties on those who drive with a BAC at or above .18%, the New York State Legislature will be considering additional bills in 2008 that will assist us in lowering traffic injuries and fatalities to an even greater extent.

In order to maintain New York's position as a leader in traffic safety, we need to continue our efforts. I encourage you to take advantage of the FFY 2009 grant opportunities which are now available through the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. We are confident that the opportunity that these grants provide will help give you the ability to develop innovative highway safety programs that will benefit our communities.

Our hope is to foster efforts to reduce every type of crash, including those caused by impaired driving, motorcycles, pedestrians, bicycles, and commercial vehicles. We will support programs that educate the public on the importance of occupant restraint use and on the dangers of aggressive and distracted driving behaviors. Details on the upcoming year's grant programs are available in this packet.

Your commitment to highway safety is to be commended for making New York a safer place in which to travel, work, and live. Together, we will maintain our strong commitment to making our State's roadways safer for every driver.

Sincerely,

Eliot Spitzer

Governor Eliot Spitzer

 

Governor's Traffic Safety Committee

STATE OF NEW YORK
GOVERNOR'S TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES
6 EMPIRE STATE PLAZA
ALBANY, NEW YORK 12228

 DMV Logo

February 1, 2008

Dear Highway Safety Associate:

I am inviting you to participate in the New York State Governor's Traffic Safety Committee's (GTSC) grant funding program for federal fiscal year 2009.

Our efforts to reduce motor vehicle crashes, fatalities, and injuries have been productive over the long run. Data released nationally ranks New York as the third safest state in the nation. Our successes with occupant restraint use and impaired driving deterrence contribute to our rank. However, recent upturns in the data remind us that we should be redoubling our efforts to conduct programs that have meaningful impact in key problem areas, along with continuing our grant programs in occupant restraint and traffic law enforcement.

Projects addressing the priorities of traffic enforcement and occupant restraint use will continue to be addressed through structured grant programs:

Buckle Up New York (BUNY) - seat belt enforcement grants will provide overtime funding to participate in the statewide seat belt enforcement wave in May 2009. Funding will also be provided for local enforcement strategies aimed at increasing seat belt use during the first 6 months of the grant. This expanded effort will allow agencies flexibility and should lead to higher compliance rates within jurisdictions. Statewide compliance rates have remained in the mid to low 80% range for the past seven years. Participation in a November 2008 wave will be optional, yet encouraged, so as to remind the public of our year round efforts to enforce the seat belt law. Interagency cooperation is encouraged during enforcement details though joint public information efforts.

Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) - these grants will continue to fund enforcement of aggressive driving behaviors. Jurisdictions will be encouraged to use local data to determine problem areas and to develop enforcement countermeasure to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities.

Child Passenger Safety - these grants will continue to support child passenger fitting stations, training and child restraint education.

Other Highway Safety Programs for Local, State and Not-for-Profit Agencies

If your community has other highway safety issues that you believe should be addressed, you may submit a general Highway Safety Grant Application for Local Agencies (HS-1) or for State Agencies and Not-For Profits (HS1-A). These grant proposals require a narrative outline of the problem, detail of proposed activities with milestones and an evaluation plan. Funding for these other issues will be considered, as resources permit. The applications must address one of the program areas included in the state's Strategic Highway Safety Plan, available online at http://www.thesafeny.org.

Program areas considered for funding are:

Since successful programs are data driven, ticket and crash data reports for each county are available on the GTSC website at www.thesafeny.org/hsdata.htm. These reports may be used to supplement locally available data to develop problem identification statements for applications and to evaluate existing programs. New York's Highway Safety Strategic Plan is also available on the web site.

Impaired Driving
Program goals for impaired driving will focus our efforts on providing funding for statewide projects that provide training, equipment and programs to enhance state agencies' initiatives to support the efforts of the county STOP-DWI programs. If additional funding becomes available, a request for applications from local agencies would be made later in the year.

Grant applications must be complete, signed and submitted to the GTSC by May 15. Local applications must be reviewed and endorsed by your county's traffic safety board. Allow enough time to have your applications reviewed by the Traffic Safety Board so the May 15 deadline is met. Applications received by May 15 receive first priority, applications received after May 15 may be considered by GTSC if federal funds are available.

All application forms can be obtained at www.thesafeny.org/hsforms.htm. Details on each of the grant programs and general instructions necessary for preparing these applications are included with the application. Instructions on how to download and fill in the applications is also on the website.

Since taking on the role of Chair of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, I have been impressed at the level of commitment, professionalism and enthusiasm for our shared mission. I am sure that all of our partners will be proposing innovative and data driven grant proposals and look forward to reviewing each with the assistance of the entire Governor's Traffic Safety Committee.

If you have any questions or need any assistance preparing your grant application, please contact your GTSC Highway Safety Program Representative at (518) 474-5111 or (518) 474-5777.

Sincerely,

David J. Swarts

David J. Swarts
Chair, Governor's Traffic Safety Committee
Commissioner of Motor Vehicles

 

APPLICATION FORMS, DATA PACKETS AND OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE AT:

Safe NY

Summary of Grant Programs

PROGRAM AREA DESCRIPTION ACTIVITIES
BUCKLE UP NEW YORK

Buckle Up New York - Click It or Ticket

 Occupant restraint enforcement applications also require:
  • Public information/media outreach.
  • Seat belt policy, roll call video
  • Use Survey
 High visibility enforcement waves, participation in May wave mandatory.

Expanded enforcement period.

Multi agency cooperation encouraged.
CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY PROGRAM

Child Passenger Safety

 Child passenger safety education and outreach.
  • Fitting stations
  • Car seat checks
  • Distribution program
  • Education
  • Training
SELECTIVE TRAFFIC
ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM
(STEP)

STEP Enforcement Program

 Selective traffic enforcement to reduce unsafe driving behaviors.

Operation Safe Stop

 Overtime police enforcement activities that target unsafe aggressive driving behaviors such as speeding, red light running or cell phone use.

May include commercial vehicle and motorcycle if local data supports need.
General Highway Safety Program

Local Highway Safety Programs and State Agency and Not for Profit Programs

GTSC Logo

 Includes all areas of highway safety covered in the state Highway Safety Strategic Plan. Traffic safety programs targeting a specific problem area or a whole community.

Applications require a data supported problem identification work plan and evaluation.

Reminder: Grant applications are available only on the GTSC Website at http://www.SafeNY.com.

The Governor's Traffic Safety Committee administers highway safety grant funding in accordance with the US DOT 49 CFR - PART 18 - Uniform Administrative Requirements For Grants And Cooperative Agreements To State And Local Governments, under the guidelines published by the GTSC in the structured applications Guide to Preparing a Highway Safety Program Application. Grants are reviewed for approval based on the criteria stated on the application. In general, the review is based in part on past performance, agreement to perform requested activities, significance of problem identified, and rationale of proposed solution.