  St. Patrick's Day Buzzed Driving Prevention Material
- March 10-17: St. Patrick's Day Campaign
- March 17: St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick’s Day 2025 celebrations will take place across the country on and around Monday, March 17. NHTSA urges drivers to remember that drinking and driving is deadly and never an option. Join NHTSA and OTSO in sharing this message: Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.
NHTSA offers themed material for St. Patrick’s Day that encourages people to not get behind the wheel after drinking and to plan for a safe, sober ride home.
Get Material Now
On behalf of the NHTSA team, thanks for your proactive support in saving lives on our highways.
- April 1-30: National Distracted Driving Awareness Month
- April 7-14: Paid Media Campaign
- April 10-14: Enforcement Campaign
Put the Phone Away or Pay is a national high-visibility enforcement campaign that runs during a specific time of the year. The campaign reminds drivers of the deadly dangers and the legal consequences of distracted driving and is supported by increased law enforcement.
Note: Put the Phone Away or Pay launched in April 2024 and replaced U Drive. U Text. U Pay.
Graphics and talking points available now!
Social media content and sample news release coming soon!
Get NHTSA Materials Here
 New Training Opportunity for Prosecutors:
This CLE is designed for prosecutors who handle impaired driving cases. The course will address updates to Ohio Administrative Code 3701-53 and the new breath alcohol test instruments added to OAC 3701-53-03 in January 2023. It will cover principles of operation, scientific basis for breath alcohol testing, similarities and differences between new and previous breath alcohol test instruments, responsibilities of breath test operators and senior operators, the steps of a breath test and of an instrument certification and how the breath test and certification and traceability documentation address the requirements of OAC 3701-53. It will also address common misunderstandings concerning breath alcohol testing and common challenges to breath test results. The addition of oral fluid as a laboratory sample to detect drugs in suspected impaired drivers will also be discussed. This course is designed to prepare and assist prosecutors for motion hearing and trial evidentiary foundation, introduction and admission into evidence, and defense challenges.
Presenter: Jeanna Walock, Ohio Department of Health Laboratory
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Friday, March 14 - Maumee Police Department
- Click HERE for full details and registration
MARCH 2025 TRAFFIC TUESDAY WEBINAR
Title: Driving Under the Influence of Dissociative Anesthetics: Pharmacology and Case Profiles (Ohio Bar Approval for 1.5-hr CLE Credit)
Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Time: 2:00p-3:30p Eastern
Presenters: Cassandra L. Duvall, MFS, D-ABFT-FT - Supervisor – Toxicology, Houston Forensic Science Center
Dayong Lee, Ph.D., F-ABFT - Manager – Toxicology/Chief Toxicologist, Houston Forensic Science Center
Description: Dissociative anesthetics are a class of psychedelic drugs which include Phencyclidine (PCP), ketamine, and dextromethorphan. In this workshop, attendees will learn pharmacology of main dissociative anesthetics to be considered when evaluating the effects of the drugs during impaired driving investigations. This workshop will also cover emergence and prevalence of novel dissociative anesthetics (PCP and ketamine analogs), as well as findings from the extensive case study on PCP-positive drivers in Houston over 10 years.
CLICK HERE for more information and the registration link.
APRIL 2025 TRAFFIC TUESDAY WEBINAR
Title: Cannabis and the Eyes (Ohio Bar Approval for 1.5-hr CLE Credit)
Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Time: 2:00p-3:30p Eastern
Presenter: Karl Citek, OD, PhD, FAAO - Professor of Optometry
Description: As cannabis DUI cases are on the rise, it is crucial for both prosecutors and law enforcement to understand the specifics behind cannabis impairment. A hotly discussed issue in this realm is that of the effects of Cannabis on the Eyes. This session will seek to educate both prosecutors and law enforcement on this important area. It will describe and discuss various changes to pupil responses and eye movements that can occur with cannabis impairment, including: mydriasis, rebound dilation, eyelid tremors, lack of convergence, lack of smooth pursuit, and saccadic intrusions.
CLICK HERE for more information and the registration link.
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Lifesavers 2025 Conference
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Registration Now Open for the 2025 Ohio Traffic Safety Summit
- Columbus, OH
- Registration is FREE!
- More than 20 workshops, including keynotes, and panel discussions
- Connect & collaborate with Federal, State, and Local Partners
- Explore current trends on seat belt use, distracted driving, media coverage, youthful drivers, law enforcement, pedestrian safety & more
- Ohio's first ever Traffic Safety Leadership and Service award presentations
- Ohio Traffic Safety Summit 2025 - Ohio Union at OSU
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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). 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.
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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.
- 2025 ARIDE Courses Sponsored by the DRE Program:
To register, please e-mail the corresponding e-mail address for the course.
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 and how to apply for this free training, please view the DRE Application, School Information and Requirements by clicking here.
- 2025 DRE School Training Dates:
- Oct. 20 - 30 at OSHP Academy
- Nov. 5 - 11 Field Certifications out of state
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 Vehicle crashes continue to be a leading cause of death among our youth, and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine recently voiced his support to fund driver education programs in high schools as part of his executive budget proposal. This announcement highlights the important role that schools play in fostering a traffic safety culture – creating safer passengers, safer drivers, and safer roadways for all of us.
Traffic Safety education begins in childhood, when a child first learns to buckle their own seatbelt in a vehicle. To support this, OTSO partnered with Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and The Ohio State University to introduce a new elementary school seat belt program called “Buckle Up with Brutus”. This program is aligned with 2nd and 3rd grade curriculum standards to blend car seat safety into a fun, interactive program to promote safe choices.
- Children are best protected in a crash when they are buckled correctly in the right seats for their ages and sizes.
- Of the child passengers (age 13 and under) killed in crashes in Ohio in 2023, 44% were unrestrained.
The “Buckle Up with Brutus” program aims to educate students and families about the importance of wearing a seat belt and using a booster seat. During the presentation, a school resource officer, teacher, or other school personnel leads students in a variety of lessons and activities that are provided by OTSO free of charge. Students will also learn strategies for being a good passenger in vehicles.
OTSO will provide everything that school resource officers need to bring “Buckle Up with Brutus” to 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. Law enforcement agencies are eligible to be reimbursed by OTSO for presenting this program in schools at $20 per student. No advance training is needed for school resource officers!
CLICK HERE for more details on the reimbursement process.
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Since this program launched at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, over 4,000 students have participated and learned Brutus' seat belt boogie!
Please e-mail any questions to OTSO at BuckleUp@dps.ohio.gov.
OTSO offers materials for numerous traffic safety campaigns, including impaired driving, restraint usage, distracted driving, speeding and motorcycles. Utilizing these free materials can make an impact that can reach beyond your community.
CLICK HERE to order online!
Outdated forms sent via fax or e-mail will still be accepted, but this online link will be updated when new materials are added to our inventory. More items coming soon!
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