Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Police receive more than $100K in highway safety grants

As part of the statewide focus to prevent motor vehicle crashes and ultimately eliminate roadway fatalities, the Hogan Administration has announced distribution of $11.8 million in state and federal highway safety grants. The funds will be dispersed by the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office to more than 90 traffic safety-related organizations and law enforcement agencies.

“As we improve the infrastructure and reliability of transportation across the state, these funds are essential to continue our focus on highway safety,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “By bringing together state and local agencies and private sector organizations, we are all working together to save lives on Maryland roadways.”

In 2019, 534 people were killed and thousands were injured in motor vehicle crashes statewide. The highway safety funds announced today will be used for initiatives to:

• Increase the use of seat belts in all seats;
• Prevent impaired, aggressive, and distracted driving;
• Increase safety for pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists;
• Promote the correct use of child passenger safety seats;
• Fund overtime enforcement of Maryland’s traffic laws;
• Support police training for highway safety and traffic enforcement; and
• Increase the efficiency and capability of Maryland’s traffic data systems.

“It is unacceptable that we average more than 100,000 crashes statewide each year. One injury or death on our roads is too many,” said MDOT Secretary Gregory Slater. “MDOT is committed to continuing our work with law enforcement agencies and traffic-safety partners to build a collaborative approach to reach our goal of eliminating motor vehicle crashes and fatalities.”

In 2019, Vision Zero was enacted following passage of legislation setting an overall goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries on Maryland’s roadways by 2030. This goal will guide partners as they implement safety programs with the distributed funds. Vision Zero also serves as a blueprint in development of Maryland’s 2021-2025 Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on roadways across the state focused on the Four E’s – education, engineering, enforcement and emergency medical services.

“We all need to remember every time we get behind the wheel that each of us has a responsibility to keep all road users safe. Year after year, we see the same, preventable causes of crashes,” said MDOT MVA Administrator Chrissy Nizer, who also serves as Governor Hogan’s Highway Safety Representative. “We are looking forward to working with our safety partners across the state to spread the messages to drive sober, buckle up, slow down, put the phone down, and watch for motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists.”

The funds awarded can only be used for traffic safety initiatives and are allocated based on crash data for each county and/or organization applications. The funding is for the federal Fiscal Year 2021, which runs from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021.

Learn more about the MDOT MVA’s Highway Safety Office at ZeroDeathsMD.gov or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @ZeroDeathsMD.

Below is a breakdown of the highway safety grant amounts.