WA Traffic Safety Commission 10/29/2021

Problem and Opportunity Statement/ Project Overview The main causes of serious injury and fatality collisions on Washington's roadways are driver impairment through drug and/or alcohol use, and distracted driving. Motorcyclists also represent a high number of injured and killed as a result of unsafe and poorly trained riders and the challenges vehicle drivers face in observing motorcycles on the road. This project will fund locally coordinated high visibility enforcement mobilizations for distracted driving and motorcycle safety. Selected regions will also be given funding for Impaired Driving HVE. Overtime patrols will be organized by local Target Zero Managers (TZMs) &the statewide Law Enforcement Liaison networks and their local Target Zero Task Force.These patrols will also be coordinated with the Washington State Patrol (WSP).Target Zero Managers will establish or strengthen relationships with key WSP district personnel to improve interagency coordination. Goal Prevent traffic crashes to reduce traffic related deaths and serious injuries through active, visible, consistent, and targeted traffic law enforcement. Strategy Prevent drivers from engaging in high-risk behaviors by increasing their perception of the risk of receiving a citation through high visibility enforcement campaigns (HVE). HVE Campaigns influence driver behavior by creating the perception that there is an increased risk of engaging in risky driving behaviors.This perception is achieved through 1) an increase in media messages about upcoming emphasis periods so that the targeted drivers know when the patrols will occur and what will be enforced and 2) drivers have the perception of increased enforcement because they can see a significant and noticeable increase in law enforcement presence (officers pulling cars over) that reinforces the media messages they received and influences them to modify their driving behavior. Objectives and Requirements for All High Visibility Patrols 1. SUB-RECIPIENT will participate in their task force to plan and execute HVE events. The SUB- RECIPIENT in cooperation with the local task force will: a. Conduct robust planning for each HVE event. WTSC recommends creating an operational plan developed by the local traffic safety task force for each HVE event that includes: i. Goals for the event—For example, what behaviors is the event intended to influence? ii. Summary of participating law enforcement agencies, target violations, and target locations. iii. Summary of the public outreach that will be done to promote the event so that drivers in the targeted locations are forewarned and can anticipate it. iv. Use data and information such as crash data, anecdotes of near misses, and professional judgement to pick target locations where the patrols will occur.