CHP works to reduce fatal crashes in San Gorgonio Pass with federal funds

BEAUMONT, Calif. (KABC) -- The San Gorgonio Pass division of the California Highway Patrol is on a mission to save lives with the help of federal grant money.

On Monday, they announced the result of a project which launched Oct. 1, 2018 and runs until Sept. 20, 2019.

"Our goal with this traffic safety campaign was to decrease the number of people killed and injured in traffic collisions within the San Gorgonio Pass CHP jurisdiction," said Capt. Mike Alvarez.

Dubbed the High Collision Reduction campaign, the effort includes enhanced enforcement, public awareness and education to reinforce safe driving habits.

"Speed is probably the primary collision factor for the number of injury and fatal traffic collisions," said Alvarez.

Impaired and distracted driving are also contributing factors in the number of deadly collisions the CHP saw from October 2015 to September 2016, when 937 people were injured resulting in 35 people killed.

Since the campaign's launch, the number of crashes has gone down.

So far this year, there have been 467 injuries and 10 fatalities in the area covered by the San Gorgonio CHP.

"We are starting to see a slight decline. There's a lot of work still to be done," said Alvarez.

Funding for the program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.