The Traffic Safety Division (TSD) of the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) has primary responsibility for managing safety programs designed to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries. TSD partners with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Highway Safety Administration (FHWA), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and other national and local traffic safety partners to develop and fund statewide and community-level strategies and projects that will have the greatest impact reducing crashes, fatalities and injuries.
In FY 2020, TSD will give priority to the following highway safety projects:
- Alcohol (Impaired Driving) – Includes impaired driving, youth alcohol programs, and community prevention/intervention programs. Grant applications should include one or more of the following activities: specialized enforcement, education, training, and public information efforts.
- Occupant Protection – Includes safety belt use awareness, safety belt enforcement, special needs, teens, minority programs, and other education programs. Grant applications should include one or more of the following activities: education, training, enforcement, usage and attitudinal surveys, and public information efforts.
- Motorcycle Safety – Includes programs to increase safety awareness and skills among motorcyclists or to increase motorists sharing the roadway. Applications should include one or more of the following activities: education, training, and public information efforts.
- Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety – Includes programs to increase safety awareness among pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists sharing the roadway. Grant applications should include the following activities: education, training, enforcement, surveys, and public information efforts.
- Police Traffic Records Program - Includes programs to address activities and projects identified in the Statewide Traffic Records System (STRS) strategic plan. The goal of the Strategic Plan is to maintain an STRS that includes the following data systems: crash, roadway inventory, traffic, driver history, injury surveillance, vehicle, citation and adjudication, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and Federal Motor Carrier Management Information System.
- Driver Education and Safety - Includes traffic safety forums, conferences, task forces, seminars and training events to help coordinate public and private sector involvement in traffic safety issues. Media activities, public information and educational campaigns, primarily focused on occupant protection and DWI, coincide with National and local events and enforcement operations. Additional public awareness and educational activities are developed for pedestrian, safety corridor, speeding, distracted driving and other selective traffic enforcement programs.
Highway safety grants are intended to provide the seed money” to begin new programs, much like start-up capital is to a new business. All grant-funded projects are intended to become self-sufficient when grant funding terminates and are expected to continue to operate with local or state funds.