Highway safety grant application approved

PARKERSBURG - A Highway Safety Program grant application for $385,000 was approved by Wood County commissioners.

Last year's grant to the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Highway Safety Program totaled $289,000. Toni Tiano, county grant coordinator and program coordinator said the additional funds being requested would be used to purchase more equipment and pay overtime for more police patrols to crackdown on DUI (driving under the influence) offenders.

"In part, the additional funds are sought because we want to buy scanners and printers for law enforcement for use with their other new technology, and the federal government is emphasizing crackdowns on DUI, so we are asking for additional overtime funds for those DUI patrols," Tiano said.

The new grant period would begin Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2009.

The local highway safety program is more than 10 years old and covers nine counties, including Wood, Wirt, Calhoun, Ritchie, Roane, Pleasants, Jackson, Gilmer and Doddridge.

Tiano said in addition to the scanners and printers that would be purchased in conjunction with law enforcement's electronic reporting system, funds would also be used to conduct child safety seat checks, purchase child safety seats, buy public education and informational materials and do other highway safety projects.

Wood County Chief Deputy Tom Smith said the scanners and printers will help bring the department up-to-date.

"The laptops that were purchased earlier were mainly for accident reports, but we also have a form set up for citations. If we could have an in-car printer, it would eliminate the need for a separate ticket book. We could put the citation on the computer and print it out right there. It's really just to help us get updated. It's going to save time, and paperwork. Now we have to write up the citation, then it has to be input later by the clerk. So it saves that step, it would already be in the computer, and it would also save file space," Smith said.

Smith said the scanner could be used to assist with inputting driver's license, insurance and other identifying information that officers now must type manually now.

No funding match is required for the grant.