This is one sample of news releases customized by county.

OLYMPIA – On Wednesday, April 18, 2012, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC) honored four Chelan County traffic safety professionals for their outstanding contributions to traffic safety. The ceremony took place at the Lacey Community Center in Lacey, WA.

For more than 25 years, the WTSC has recognized outstanding citizens who go beyond their job duties and make necessary contributions, changes, and improvements that affect everyone’s safety on our roads. 

Trooper Mike Dufour of the Washington State Patrol’s District 6 in Wenatchee was recognized for his contributions in the Impaired Driving category. In 2009 in Chelan and Douglas County, there was a 150% increase in fatality collisions resulting in eight fatalities. In 2008-2009 there was a 126% increase in the number of DUI-related collisions. Trooper Dufour gathered stakeholders from Chelan and Douglas County and put together a plan to reduce these fatalities and DUI collisions, increase department visibility, and provide awareness and education to local fruit growers and industry workers. As a result, in 2010 this same area had one fatality collision and four DUI collisions. This compares to 13 DUI collisions in 2009.

Officer Steve Evitt of the Wenatchee Police Department was recognized for his contributions in the Young Drivers category. Officer Evitt is an 11 year veteran of the Wenatchee Police Department assigned as the student resource officer at Wenatchee High School.  His commitment to reducing crashes and saving lives has brought a strong traffic safety message to the teens he works with every day.

Susan Epoch of the Chelan/Douglas County Child Passenger Safety Team was recognized for her contributions in the Unrestrained Occupants category. Susan is a nurse at the Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee and sees first-hand what happens when children are not properly restrained. For the past eight years Susan has volunteered as a child passenger technician to educate parents and ensure kids are properly restrained.

Eveline Roy, the Chelan/Douglas County Target Zero Manager, was recognized for her contributions in the Unrestrained Occupants category. Eveline is passionate about child passenger safety and was instrumental in lining up a large number of law enforcement participants in the Child Passenger Safety Project in the area. Realizing that child passenger safety is complicated for parents and law enforcement officers, she organized emphasis patrols where car seat technicians rode with law enforcement officers to help educate them. This in turn helped to educate parents and ensure kids are properly restrained.

The WTSC honored many different winners in 2012.  These include law enforcement personnel, business leaders, engineers, citizen activists, traffic safety volunteers, educators, government leaders, and media professionals.  Each of these various community leaders worked for one common goal – to find ways to reduce traffic-related injuries and deaths in Washington.

The WTSC conducts this bi-annual statewide awards program to honor the achievements of people working to make our state’s roadways safer, including the 4 Es: Enforcement, Education, Engineering and Emergency Medical Services.

The Traffic Safety Awards Program mirrored Washington’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan: Target Zero, which was approved by Governor Gregoire in 2007 and updated in 2010. Target Zero is Washington’s plan to eliminate traffic deaths in the state by the year 2030. The award categories match the objectives in Priority One and Priority Two levels of Target Zero—Impaired Driving, Run-Off-Road Collisions, Speeding-Involved Collisions, Young Drivers, Unrestrained Occupants, Distracted Drivers, Intersection Collisions, and Traffic Data Systems.

Nomination forms were distributed throughout the state and more than 50 nominations were judged by a multi-disciplinary team of traffic safety professionals from the state and national levels including Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Health, Washington State Patrol, Target Zero Task Force Managers, and media professionals. A total of 36 individual and group awards were given out at Wednesday’s event.

At the ceremony, a video was shown with interviews and footage showcasing the outstanding work of each individual or group winner. These videos will be posted on the WTSC Vimeo channel and available for viewing sometime next week. Winners received an engraved award and a certificate, and a professional photographer took digital photos of the event.  A copy of each winner’s photo can be found at www.flickr.com/trafficsafety.

The WTSC recognizes that it takes innovative, hard-working people all throughout the state to save lives and reduce injuries on the roads we travel every day. The WTSC is proud to honor these dedicated individuals and showcase their efforts and results. Their nomination forms are available for your review upon request.

Darrin Grondel Selected

OLYMPIA, WA — Governor Chris Gregoire appointed Darrin T. Grondel as Director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. Mr. Grondel is an experienced traffic safety professional having worked in law enforcement in metropolitan and rural settings for 20 years. Most recently, he served as a captain and the commanding officer of Washington State Patrol’s Commercial Vehicle Division (CVD).

Steve Lind, Deputy Director of the Commission, spoke for all staff when he commented on the appointment. “We are excited the Governor appointed such a dynamic, knowledgeable leader. Darrin’s collaborative style will be an asset as we continue to work with our many great partners in the private sector and tribal, federal, state and local governments.”

During Mr. Grondel’s CVD command, Washington State Patrol was recognized nationally for lowering truck-related deaths, receiving the 2010 Commercial Vehicle Safety Award. Darrin was recognized personally when he was nominated to the Governors Distinguished Managers Association in 2009.

This is one sample of news releases customized by county throughout Washington.

Whitman County, WA – The results of the recent Holiday DUI enforcement campaign conducted from November 24, 2011 through January 2, 2012 were released today.

In Whitman County, 19 motorists were stopped and arrested for driving under the influence (DUI), and statewide, law enforcement officers arrested 3812 drivers for DUI.

In Whitman County, the Pullman and Washington State University Police Departments, the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol, participated in the extra emphasis patrols, with the support of the Spokane County Target Zero Task Force. The extra patrols were funded by a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

Last year during the same time period, officers in Whitman County on routine and extra patrols arrested 8 people for DUI.

During 2010, drinking drivers killed 188 people, representing more than 40 percent of the 458 people who died on Washington’s roadways.

This is one sample of news releases customized by county throughout Washington.

Law Enforcement Will Do Their Part with Extra DUI Patrols from November 24, 2011 through January 2, 2012

Law enforcement will conduct extra DUI patrols in Mason County from November 24, 2011 through January 2, 2012. Public education combined with strict enforcement is a proven method for reducing DUI crashes and fatalities. However, law enforcement officers can’t do it alone. We all need to do our part, just as Carol and Frank Blair are.

The Blairs have made it their mission to reduce the carnage caused by drunk drivers. On February 26, 2010, their daughter Sheena was killed when an SUV moved into her lane and hit her head-on. The driver of the SUV had a blood alcohol level of almost three times the legal limit.

While their grief is enormous, Carol and Frank are actively working to prevent drunk driving by leading many efforts to honor the spirit of Sheena and all other victims of drunk driving crashes. They urge every one to do their part this holiday season to prevent drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel.

“Don’t let our story become your story” said Frank Blair. “Call a cab. Call a friend. Plan ahead. No matter who you are, someone loves you.”

In 2010, Sheena Blair was one of 188 people in Washington who died as a result of a crash involving a drinking driver. Between 2006 and 2010, the five year total was 1,191.

This is why officers from the Shelton and Squaxin Island Police Departments, the Mason County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol will commit extra patrol hours to make the roadways safer for everyone. These efforts are part of Washington’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan to reduce traffic fatalities to zero by the year 2030.

Last year during the same time period, officers in Mason County on routine and extra patrols arrested 27 people for DUI.

The Mason County Target Zero Traffic Safety Task Force organizes and supports this enforcement effort. They urge you to join the team to prevent drunk driving.

National Teen Driver Safety Week October 16 – 22, 2011

During National Teen Driver Safety Week, October 16 – 22, 2011,  the Washington Traffic Safety Commission will kickoff a partnership with State Farm and Clear Channel Radio to develop a project aimed at reducing distracted driving collisions among teens.

Radio announcers on two Clear Channel stations that have high ratings in the teen market — KUBE FM and KISS FM — will solicit personal stories from teens about their experiences with distracted driving. The stories will be developed into radio public service announcements and videos which will be placed on YouTube and other social media sites. 

The research shows – and most parents agree – that teens listen to their fellow teens much more intently than they listen to older people, so the aim of the project is to increase the motivating power of the message. 

 “Our goal is to develop a peer-to-peer education project where teens are educating their fellow teens about the dangers of distracted driving,” said Andrew McVicar, State Farm Public Affairs Specialist.

The Traffic Safety Commission received a $50,000 grant from State Farm for the project. Other project partners include the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, the UW Medical Center, and Public Health Seattle King County.

Collision injury and death data shows that distracted driving is an increasing problem among teens, given the popularity of cell phones and other electronic devices.   Almost 5,500 people die each year in the USA as a result of distracted driving. Teen drivers have the highest proportion of distraction-related crashes.

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, killing more of them than cancer, drug use, homicide and suicide combined. Between 2004 and 2008, young drivers (age 16-25) made up 15% of all licensed drivers in the State of Washington but were involved in 38% of the fatal and serious injury collisions. Their lack of driving experience can contribute to critical misjudgments if they become distracted.

Another aspect of the project involves promoting the anti-distracted driving message with high school-based service learning projects.

National Teen Driver Safety Week, promoted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, is October 16 – 22. 

“We are grateful for the ongoing partnership with State Farm and their support of traffic safety initiatives,” said Lowell Porter, Traffic Safety Commission director. “During times of diminishing resources, financial support from State Farm makes a significant difference as we work to reduce the numbers of those killed and injured on Washington roads.”