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FROM: Angie Wyatt, Executive Director
Cortland County Traffic Safety Board
DATE: May 12, 2008
RE: Traffic Safety Grants
Traffic safety grant applications totaling $142,324.72 have been submitted by the Cortland County Traffic Safety Board to the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee for approval to fund a variety of traffic safety projects throughout the County.
BUNY (Buckle Up New York) grants totaling $$7,500.00 were submitted by the Cortland City Police and New York State University Police at Cortland. BUNY grants are a statewide high visibility enforcement and public information and education campaign designed to save lives and reduce the severity of injuries by increasing seatbelt use.
STEP (Selective Traffic Enforcement Program) Grants totaling $22,774.00 were submitted by the Cortland City Police, Cortland County Sheriff’s Department and NYS University Police at Cortland. These grants are law enforcement projects that target speeding, aggressive driving, distracted drivers (i.e. cell phone use), pedestrian safety, motorcycle safety, “Operation Safe Stop” (school bus safety), and statewide Initiative Projects.
The Cortland County Health Department, Cortland County Sheriff’s Department and the Family Health Network of Central New York have applied for $21,636.00 for Child Passenger Safety Grants. Child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% when used correctly, however misuse reduces effectiveness of more than 90% of child safety seats. The 3 agencies will address this issue. Cortland County Traffic Safety Executive Director, Angie Wyatt commented that the Cortland Regional Medical Center participates with the child safety seat programs when releasing newborn infants and older children from the hospital.
The Cortland County Health Department applied for a “Basic Traffic Safety & Injury Prevention” grant in the amount of $33,460.00 to provide low cost car safety seats with education in proper use and installation. They will further provide reflective gear to the bicycling and pedestrian community as well as pedestrian education to decrease the number of preventable injuries in our County.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cortland County applied for a grant entitled “Keep Your Head” totaling $26,585.72. This grant will focus on bicycle and wheeled sport safety education with an emphasis on the use of bicycle helmets. Children under the age of 14 years old are required by NYS Law to wear bicycle helmets when riding a bike. All Cortland County schools and parks benefit from the bicycle safety and helmet use education that Cornell Cooperative Extension provides. This grant also provides for helmet distribution to Cortland County residents at low or no cost. The helmets will be distributed at community events, bicycle rodeos, the Fall Family Bike Ride held at Dwyer Park and by appointment throughout the year.
A special grant entitled “Special Pedestrian Safety Program” totaling $21,859.00 was submitted by the Cortland County Health Department in conjunction with the Cortland County Sheriff’s Department. As a result of several pedestrian, vehicle, bicycle and motorcycle fatalities in the past 6 years in the area of Route 13 (Tompkins Street) and Starr and McLean Roads, the Tompkins Street Traffic Safety Project Team was formed in 2006 and chaired by New York State Police Captain Larry Jackmin. As a result of the final report, more street lighting has been installed, crosswalks have been painted at the intersection and the traffic light pattern at Tompkins Street, Starr Road and McLean Road was updated. The Cortland County Sheriff’s Department and New York State Police have been and will continue to be dedicating patrol time to target vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian violations that contribute to the identified problem.
In additional the Cortland City Police Department has applied for a “Traffic Safety Corridor Enforcement Program” grant in the amount of $8,510.00. This grant is a statewide coordinated high visibility corridor enforcement campaign targeting high-crash locations.
For questions regarding the grants please contact the Cortland County Traffic Safety Board office at (607)758-5510 or one of the participating agencies.