LEXINGTON, NE – The Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) Highway Safety Office announced the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office is being awarded two separate highway safety grants. The first is to assist in obtaining two mobile radar units. The total grant funding assistance for the radar units project is up to $1,884.00.
NDOT says the mobile radar speed detection equipment provides the agency with reliable, advanced technology that will enhance speed control efforts.
NDOT Highway Safety Office Administrator William Kovarik says, “Technology holds immense promise when it comes to mitigating human error. This equipment is vital in helping agencies to more effectively target reckless drivers, making roadways safer for motorists and passengers.”
Kovarik adds, “This grant will allow law enforcement to purchase equipment that will assist the agency in their mission to enhance public safety on our roadways. It provides the tools they require to focus on problematic traffic areas throughout Dawson County to promote safer roadways, and reduce speed related traffic crashes, fatalities and injuries.”
The second safety grant, for a total of $1,980.00 awarded through NDOT-HSO, provided Dawson County Sheriff’s Office with six handheld alcohol breath testing units.
“The departments receiving this grant are all part of a statewide initiative to decrease the number of roadway crashes, fatalities, and injuries,” state Kovarik.
The units, valued at $330.00 each, are used to test the amount of alcohol in a driver’s breath. The portable units display a digital reading of the blood alcohol level from a suspect’s breath sample. These results along with field sobriety testing are used to establish probably cause that a driver is operating a vehicle while impaired.
According to Kovarik, “This is a quick test that can be performed in the field at the beginning of each investigation. In every state in this country, drunk driving is illegal. It’s also incredibly deadly, and a risk we don’t want to see people take. Driving under the influence of any substance will land you a DUI.”
