Montpelier– Peg Buda, Coordinator of Williams County Safe Communities announced the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s (ODPS) Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO) awarded $27,500 in federal traffic safety funding to Williams County Health Department for federal fiscal year 2023.
Ohio’s Safe Communities network uses local coalitions to deliver traffic safety messages and program throughout the year at the county level.
“Partnerships are critical to the success of any safety effort, and we are committed to working with safety partners to address traffic safety concerns in Williams County,” said Peg Buda.
Williams County Safe Communities has identified that mature and teen driver related traffic crashes are a priority area to target for traffic safety awareness education along with impaired and distracted diving safety awareness.
To save lives and improve the quality of life for our citizens, Williams County Health Department will use the grant funds through Williams County Safe Communities for traffic safety awareness education for seat belt usage and distracted driving awareness in our local schools and community.
Impaired and drugged driving safety awareness and motorcycle safety awareness will also be addressed.
The funds are passed through OTSO from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to support the efforts of safety partners statewide and focus on traffic safety priority areas such as restraint use, impaired driving, motorcycle safety and youthful drivers.
Competitive grant proposals are accepted and reviewed by OTSO. The FFY 2023 competitive grant process solicited grant proposals from state agencies, non-profit organizations, colleges, universities, hospitals, political subdivisions and other interested groups within selected Ohio counties and jurisdictions (based upon the number of fatal crashes).
For more information about OTSO and statewide efforts to improve safety on Ohio’s roadways, log http://ohiohighwaysafetyoffice.ohio.gov/index.stm