Gov. Kay Ivey awarded $3.5 million in grant funding last week to the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and the Alabama Department of Public Health. The new funding, according to Ivey, will go toward making the state’s highways safer.

“Too often a drive to work, to a vacation destination or just to shop across town ends in tragedy because of someone’s careless disregard for our traffic safety laws,” she said. “I commend the work of these two universities and the Department of Public Health for combining resources to help prevent automobile crashes. I urge motorists to obey traffic laws and drive defensively.”

ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said the funding has two goals in particular.

“These grants and programs all come together with one purpose in mind and that is to reduce crashes and promote highway safety,” said Boswell. “ADECA is pleased to join with Gov. Ivey and these programs in this worthwhile effort to prevent traffic related deaths and injuries.”

The funding going to each of the entities is as follows:

• The University of Alabama – $2.23 million to provide traffic data through the Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety and the Alabama Transportation Institute. The data will be used to determine areas with a high number of traffic crashes and driving infractions. That information will in turn be used by by police and state troopers to increase patrols and monitoring in those areas.
• Auburn University – $1.2 million to produce multi-media campaigns, involving radio, television, digital, billboard and print publications, to coincide with national highway safety campaigns aimed at increasing seat belt use and reducing impaired driving and speeding. The media campaigns will be geared toward demographics and areas provided by the Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety.
• Alabama Department of Public Health – $60,000 to contract with a firm that maintains software that tracks injuries and deaths in traffic crashes throughout the state. The information helps complete Alabama Center for Advanced Safety reports.

ADECA is responsible for administering the grants that are provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.