Gov. Kay Ivey has awarded 13 grants totaling nearly $5.8 million to support statewide traffic safety programs focused on education, enforcement, technology and law enforcement support.

“Dangerous behaviors such as impaired driving, speeding and failure to wear seat belts often have deadly consequences,” Ivey said in a news release regarding the grants. “I am pleased to award these grants that will support a comprehensive effort to prevent automobile crashes and ensure drivers follow the state’s traffic laws.”

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency received three grants totaling about $1.9 million. An $800,000 grant will fund extra-duty officer shifts through the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program during periods with high numbers of speed- and alcohol-related crashes. Another $502,954 will support training through the Drug Recognition Expert Program to help officers identify motorists impaired by drugs or affected by medical or mental disorders. The DUI Enforcement Program received $600,000 for additional officer shifts in areas identified as traffic collision hot spots.

The Alabama Department of Public Health received four grants totaling about $1.1 million. Funding includes $60,000 for software maintenance and technical support for the Alabama 3-PCR Assistance Program, a patient care reporting system used by emergency medical services professionals responding to traffic accidents. Two grants of $400,000 and $436,406 will support the Child Passenger Safety Program, which educates motorists on proper child safety restraint use and provides education and car seats to people who have received citations. Another $201,022 will fund public education about distracted driving.

The University of Alabama received three grants totaling about $2.1 million for its Center for Advanced Public Safety. The funding will support research into seat belt usage rates, data collection and software systems for law enforcement agencies and traffic safety outreach.

Other recipients include the Office of Prosecution Services, which received $245,476 to maintain the Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Grant program, providing training, legal research and technical assistance to prosecutors and local law enforcement on traffic safety issues.

Children’s Hospital of Alabama received $195,165 to provide parents and caregivers with education and resources to prevent vehicle-related heatstroke. SADD Inc. received $195,534 for its Driving Change Through Youth Leadership Program, which aims to reduce risky behaviors contributing to teen crashes and fatalities.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grants using funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“These programs employ different strategies, but they all have the shared goal of reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in Alabama,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. “ADECA is pleased to join with Gov. Kay Ivey and these organizations in an effort to make our highways safer.”

ADECA administers a range of programs supporting law enforcement, victim programs, economic development, water resource management, energy conservation and recreation.