San Andreas, CA….The California Highway Patrol (CHP) San Andreas Area office will use grant funding to start a regional traffic safety campaign in Calaveras and Alpine Counties to encourage safe driving behaviors and help deter dangerous driving habits. This one-year project ends on September 30, 2023.

The San Andreas Area will deploy officers to conduct enforcement operations on State Routes 4, 12, 26 and 49; and on unincorporated roadways where the CHP San Andreas Area has jurisdiction. This safety campaign will also include a community-based task force to raise awareness and provide education about the dangers of speeding and
other risky driving.

“We are taking a proactive approach to keep our roadways safe,” said CHP Lieutenant Commander Jeremy Stewart of the San Andreas Area office. “This grant will seek to build on the momentum achieved from past education and enforcement efforts in the San Andreas Area.”

According to the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, five people were killed and 46 people were injured in crashes on state highways and unincorporated roadways patrolled by the CHP San Andreas Area, between October 1, 2019, and September 30, 2020. The leading primary crash factors were improper turning, impaired driving, speeding, automobile right-of-way, and wrong side of road violations.

Officers will also focus their enforcement on distracted driving and seat belt violations. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.