Udall Announces Nearly $1 Million for NM Highway Safety

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tom Udall announced today that the New Mexico Department of Transportation will receive $977,867 from the U.S. Department of Transportation to reduce deaths and injuries on the highways.

"We see reports of car accidents in the news all the time, but we often forget about the dangers of the roads we use every day," said Udall, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee. "This funding will help support critical programs that keep us safer on the roads, like initiatives to increase seatbelt use and anti-DWI campaigns aimed to protect our loved ones from drunk drivers."

The annual grant funding was made available through Section 402 of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Section 402 funds can be used for a variety of safety initiatives, including conducting data analyses, developing safety education programs and conducting community-wide pedestrian safety campaigns.

A state may use these grant funds only for highway safety purposes, and at least 40 percent of these funds are to be used to address local traffic safety problems.

The Section 402 program is jointly administered by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).