By Alan Lytle
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wuky/local-wuky-861640.mp3
Lexington, KY – Monday, in Lexington, Chuck Geveden, with the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety, presented Mayor Jim Newberry and Police Chief Ronnie Bastin with a 65-thousand dollar National Highway Safety grant to curb impaired driving, speeding, and other reckless behavior, as well as promoting child safety seats, and seatbelt usage.
(it is our goal to bring down the number of fatalities and injuries across the state, and with efforts like uh in Lexington, and other agencies across the state, we've actually increased our seatbelt usage rate. We went from 72 to 80 (percent). So we're making progress, and it's a combined effort of education and enforcement, and we're sure this is going to save lives in this community).
Geveden says local law enforcement needs all the help it can get to combat a growing problem.
(We've got work to do. Too many lives are lost because someone chose to drive by not obeying traffic laws in Kentucky. In fact, as of this morning for 2009, five hundred and seventy-two lives have been lost on our roadways. The same time period in 2008, it was five hundred and fifty-five, and in 2007, it six hundred and twenty-four).
Communities can also use the grant money for overtime enforcement and equipment. In addition to the 65-thousand dollars for Fayette County, a 185-thousand dollar grant will be shared by four Madison County agencies, and some 14-thousand dollars is going to the Woodford County Sheriff's Office.