SNELLVILLE – The Snellville Police Department has been awarded a Highway Safety High Visibility Enforcement Grant totaling $7,366 from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety in Atlanta.
The grant, which is funded through September 2019, is designed to help the SPD implement a traffic-calming program that allows the department to better respond to speed-related traffic complaints and to aid in the reduction of speed-related traffic safety incidents such as motor vehicle crashes involving injuries or fatalities throughout the city.
"We are grateful to receive this grant from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety," Chief Roy Whitehead said. "The equipment we are purchasing through the grant will advance our mission to reduce injury and fatality crashes in our community."
With recent growth, Snellville has experienced a 51 percent increase in total traffic accidents and a 68 percent increase in injury accidents over the last five years.
"Speed related violations such as speeding, too fast for conditions or following too close were contributing factors in over half of our traffic accidents in 2017," Lt. David Matson said.
With the grant funding, the police department will be purchasing two portable traffic calming speed signs from Radarsign, LLC in Marietta. The signs mount directly to the pole under an existing speed limit sign and it utilizes a built-in radar to display an approaching vehicle's speed. The signs are also capable of recording traffic data which will help the department determine the validity of speed-related traffic complaints and identify peak times when these types of violations are occurring in a specific area.
"Excessive speed not only increases the likelihood you will be involved in a crash, but also increases the likelihood that someone involved in the crash will be injured or killed," Matson said. "The traffic-calming speed signs will provide drivers with a visual notice of their speed along with a warning to slow down if they are in excess of the posted speed limit."
He also said that uniform officers may be used to conduct targeted speed enforcement in areas where the collected traffic data shows that there is a significant speed-related problem. The police department hopes to have the new traffic-calming signs available and ready to use by mid-November.
For more information on the SPD's High Visibility Enforcement Grant, contact Matson at 770-985-3567 or dmatson@snellville.org. You can also learn more about the life-saving highway safety campaigns sponsored by the GOHS by visiting its website at www.gahighwaysafety.org.