The City of Temecula is raising awareness throughout the summer to promote safe driving choices and related outreach campaigns throughout the region including DUITT.org (DUI Terminator Team), Riverside County Sheriff’s S.T.R.E.E.T. (Sheriff’s Takeover Racing Enforcement Team), Southern California Association of Government’s (SCAG) Go Human, and CHP-Temecula’s distracted driver awareness.
Temecula Mayor Mike Naggar states, “Our citywide theme for 2019 is LOVE Temecula, but this is more akin to ‘tough love’ as the City of Temecula has zero tolerance for unsafe driving choices.” Council Member Zak Schwank concurs and states, “A car accident should not always have the word ‘accident’ associated with it because many times it is a choice to run a red light if in a rush, speed, use a cell phone, or drive after consuming alcohol, marijuana, prescriptions, or other substances.”
The City is saturating its traffic deputies at key locations and will be implementing traffic calming measures at various locations known for speeding such as the Redhawk Parkway/Vail Ranch “loop” and other locations being evaluated. Currently, the Promenade Temecula has a crashed vehicle on display near the theater to demonstrate the consequences of texting and driving. Next month, a different crashed vehicle will be in front of City Hall to raise awareness of the dangers of drunk or drug impaired driving. Look for more information over the next few months about the following topics:
- Distracted Driver – July
- Drunk and/or Drug Impaired Driving – August
- Red Light Runners, Speeders, Bicycling, Pedestrian Crosswalk Safety – September
Besides safely driving, what can you do? For one, report reckless driving activity immediately to 911 with as much information as possible such as description of vehicle, location and direction of travel, license plate and description of driver. It is an emergency. You could save a life. Just remember, do it safely and legally.
If calling from your vehicle, either park it or use only an installed hands-free system. All drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from using phones while operating a motor vehicle, even with a hands-free system.
Also, share this life-changing true story video with your loved ones, produced by the U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration related to texting and driving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?%20Time%20continue=178&v=t7911kgJJZc. You will find other excellent videos on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/USDOTNHTSA/videos
P.S. Drive Safe!