GLEN BURNIE, MD – The Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA) Highway Safety Office (MHSO) is accepting grant applications for traffic safety projects that will take place between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019 (Federal Fiscal Year 2019). The application deadline is March 16.
“Since 2009, an average of 502 people have died each year in traffic crashes on Maryland roads, and nearly 45,000 people have been injured,” said MDOT MVA Administrator and Governor Larry Hogan’s Highway Safety Representative Christine Nizer. “The projects we fund help eliminate these preventable tragedies and save lives.”
State and local government agencies, law enforcement agencies, institutions of higher education, hospitals, associations and other nonprofit and not-for-profit groups are encouraged to develop projects that address the “four E’s of highway safety” – education, enforcement, engineering and emergency medical services. The MHSO provides funding on a competitive basis to projects that are data driven and implement proven countermeasures for reducing motor vehicle crashes.
“Innovative projects result in safer roads, increase the effectiveness of law enforcement, create traffic safety awareness through education and the media, and provide the best possible emergency medical response,” said Tom Gianni, chief of the MDOT MVA MHSO.
The MDOT MVA MHSO is responsible for administering grant-funded programs that focus on preventing impaired, aggressive and distracted driving; protecting occupants; enhancing traffic-records systems, and ensuring the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers.
Two types of grants are available: one for law enforcement and a general grant for other eligible agencies. New projects must have statewide applicability. Local “pilot” projects are eligible, provided they demonstrate the potential for expansion throughout the state. All grant projects must support and implement strategies in the Maryland Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
For more information and to apply for a highway safety grant, visit mva.maryland.gov/safety/mhso/grants-management.htm or contact the MHSO at 410-787-4050.
Editor’s Note: Learn more about the MDOT MVA MHSO’s Toward Zero Deaths campaign at towardzerodeathsmd.com, on Facebook @towardzerodeathsmd, on Twitter @tzd_maryland, and on Instagram @twdzerodeaths_md.