APRIL IS NATIONAL DISTRACTED DRIVING AWARENESS MONTH.
"U Drive. U Text. U Pay." National High Visibility Enforcement Mobilization: April 4-11, 2022
Distracted driving is one of the fastest growing safety issues on the roads today. Distracted drivers aren’t just a threat to themselves; they are a danger to everyone else on the road. The national distracted driving effort focuses on ways to change the behavior of drivers through legislation, enforcement, public awareness, and education.
Click here to view campaign materials for this year's National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RESOURCE PROSECUTORS VIDEO TRAINING SERIES
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COMBATING ALCOHOL AND DRUG - IMPAIRED DRIVING (IIHS), to view this video click here.
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TO MEET THE TSRP'S AND LEARN WHAT TRAINING IS AVAILABLE TO LAW ENFORMCEMENT AND PROSECUTORS, click here.
TRAFFIC SAFETY CASE LAW UPDATE FOR 2020 - to view this video click here.
OHIO INTOXILYZER 8000 FOR PROSECUTORS - to view click here.
Stay tuned to future issues of TrafficWise as new videos are released.
WEBINAR SERIES
APRIL TRAFFIC TUESDAY WEBINAR
Title: CDLs & Impaired Driving: Examining the Regulations, the Licensing Requirements and the Consequences
Date: Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Time: 2-3:30 p.m. Eastern
Presenter: Aaron Ann Cole-Funfsinn, Staff Attorney - National Traffic Law Center
Description: CDL holders have the privilege of operating 80,000 pound vehicles, and with that privilege comes greater training, licensing expectations and responsibility. This webinar will analyze the rules and regulations about CDL operators and impaired driving and the legal, as well as the often deadly practical, consequences of what happens when a CDL driver chooses to operate a vehicle while impaired.
There is no charge to attend this webinar, but you must register in advance. Click here for complete information and registration information.
MAY TRAFFIC TUESDAY WEBINAR
Title: Finding The Story & Presenting the Case for Impaired Driving in CMV & Personal Vehicle Crash Cases
Date: Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Time: 2:00p-3:30p Eastern
Presenter: Aaron Ann Cole-Funfsinn, Staff Attorney - National Traffic Law Center
Tom Lockridge - Kentucky TSRP
Description: The opening statement at a jury trial is a prosecutor’s first opportunity to “tell the story”. It is especially important in impaired driving cases to communicate the urgency of the facts and the serious consequences of the driver’s actions to the jury. In this webinar, Kentucky TSRP Tom Lockridge and NDAA NTLC Staff Attorney Aaron Ann Cole-Funfsinn will create a road map for you to build a compelling opening statement in CDL- and personal vehicle- impaired driving and crash cases to help you tell a powerful and persuasive story to the jury.
There is no charge to attend this webinar, but you must register in advance. Click here for complete information and registration information.
JUNE TRAFFIC TUESDAY WEBINAR
Title: Constitutional Law Issues in Impaired Driving Cases
Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Time: 2:00p-3:30p Eastern
Presenter: Ken Stecker - Michigan TSRP
Description: In the recent past, the United States Supreme Court (USSC) has issued several opinions directly impacting impaired driving investigations and prosecutions. This webinar will provide an overview of some of the many constitutional issues impacting traffic cases from the law enforcement officer’s observations of a vehicle in motion through a defendant’s trial. It is designed to review United States Supreme Court cases that impact the prosecution of impaired driving cases generally, as well as cases that have addressed impaired driving issues specifically.
There is no charge to attend this webinar, but you must register in advance. Click here for complete information and registration information.
Description: Despite defense claims that the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) miss the mark in identifying drug-impaired drivers, the SFSTs are, in fact, a valuable tool for law enforcement to rely upon in identifying drug impairment. Join the Wisconsin TSRPs as they delve into these assertions by the defense bar. This session will address what, if any, evidence the defense bar has to support their claims and it will offer practical tips on how to respond to such challenges.
There is no charge to attend this webinar, but you must register in advance. Click here for complete information and registration information.
SEPTEMBER TRAFFIC TUESDAY WEBINAR
Title: Mellanby Effect: A LEO's Perspective on Homeostasis & Burn Off
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Time: 2:00p-3:30p Eastern
Presenter: Det. Tom Heller, Seattle Police Department
Description: This session will explain from a law enforcement perspective the many factors to review to determine if a defendant is safely off the roadway, including specifics on the scientific phenomena at play in why alcohol impaired people choose to drive. It will explain the background behind homeostasis and burn-off, and discuss how these scientific factors come into play in a DUI case so that both prosecutors and law enforcement officers can better explain and articulate these factors in order to better investigate and prosecute DUI cases. This session is a crucial follow-up to a prior session on the Mellanby Effect conducted by Washington State TSRP Miriam Norman, which explained these factors from a prosecutor's perspective; this session will provide both prosecutors and law enforcement officers with even more information on these factors, this time from the eyes of a law enforcement officer.
There is no charge to attend this webinar, but you must register in advance. Click here for complete information and registration information.
WHEN: June 17, 2022 (9:00 am- 4:00 pm)
WHERE: Geauga County Sheriff's Office, 12450 Merritt Road, Chardon 44024
WHO: Municipal and County Prosecutors and Law Enforcement
HOW: This course is being hosted by the Ohio Traffic Safety Office/ Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor/ Ohio Drug Evaluation and Classification program, and Owens Community College Center for Emergency Preparedness. Funding is provided in part or solely by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:Prosecuting the Drugged Driver is a course designed to provide prosecutors and law enforcement officers with the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully investigate and prosecute drug impaired driving cases. The course is designed to encourage a team building approach between prosecutors and officers to aid in the detection, apprehension, and prosecution of drug impaired drivers. Attendees will participate in interactive sessions taught by a multidisciplinary faculty. Topics will include: signs & symptoms of drug impairment including identifying causes and prevention of addiction, drug impairment detection, and treatment alternatives, the Drug Recognition Expert (D.R.E.) process, the role of the toxicologist, effectively litigating and presenting a DUID case at trial, qualifying the DRE as an expert in court, and responding to common defense challenges in DUID cases.
The joint training approach allows all the involved disciplines to learn from each other inside a classroom rather than outside a courtroom just minutes before trial. Each profession will learn firsthand the challenges and difficulties the others face in impaired driving cases. This allows for greater understanding on the part of police officers as to what evidence prosecutors must have in an impaired driving case. It also gives prosecutors the opportunity to learn what they can reasonably expect from officers at the arrest scene and to learn to ask more useful questions in the courtroom. Both prosecutors and officers will be able to learn firsthand from toxicologists about the proper use and limitations of breath, blood and urine tests.
There is no charge to attend this training, but you must register in advance.
For the June 17, 2022 class, click here for agenda and registration information.
Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) provides officers with general knowledge related to drug impaired driving and to promote the use of Drug Recognition Experts (DRE). Law enforcement officers will learn to observe, identify and articulate the signs of impairment related to drugs, alcohol, or a combination of both, in order to reduce the number of impaired driving crashes.
The ARIDE program stresses the importance of the signs and symptoms of the seven drug categories. Officers attending this course will receive an update/refresher of Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFSTs) and must successfully pass an SFST proficiency evaluation. This training also promotes interaction with representatives from the state's prosecution community who are encouraged to attend. The instructors for this course are all Ohio DRE certified instructors.
Prerequisite: Law enforcement officers must have had training in SFST (previously ADAP). This course is funded through an OTSO/NHTSA grant and is free for sworn Ohio law enforcement officers and prosecutors only. Tuition for out-of-state officers is $250.
To view the upcoming classes and to register, click here.
Drug Recognition Expert Program
The Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Program is a traffic safety program that focuses on the detection, apprehension and adjudication of drug-impaired drivers.
A DRE is a law enforcement officer highly trained to recognize impairment in drivers under the influence of drugs other than or in addition to alcohol.
For more information, upcoming training dates and how to apply for this free training, please view the DRE Application, School Information and upcoming classes by clicking here.
As Ohio's Federal Lead Partner focusing on Traffic Safety, the OTSO invites all of our partners to explore the many resources that NHTSA provides.
The NHTSA home page has many resources and links including latest news and trending topic like speeding, seat belts and drunk driving. You can view NHTSA’s home page by clicking here.
The Traffic Safety Marketing link takes you to current and upcoming campaigns along with various initiatives including:
OTSO encourages each of our partners to utilize the many resources available through this site to assist with your local Traffic Safety initiatives.
REMEMBER the OTSO offers materials for numerous traffic safety campaigns, including impaired driving, restraint usage, distracted driving, speeding and motorcycles. Utilizing the numerous materials found here can make an impact that will reach beyond your community. By raising public awareness YOU can help save lives. The order form can be found by clicking here.
