California officials announced more than $140 million in federal traffic-safety grants, funding nearly 500 endeavors aimed at reducing deaths and serious injuries on streets and highways across the state. The grants, administered through the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), will support programs in cities, counties, school districts, fire departments, police agencies, universities, and nonprofits through September 2026.
According to the state, the funding is part of a broader safety strategy that includes billions in transportation infrastructure investments already underway. According to officials, the programs funded this week are targeted at making streets safer by targeting: impaired driving, distracted driving, speeding, and the vulnerabilities faced by people walking, biking, and using mobility devices.
State leaders framed the grants as essential to meeting California’s long-term traffic-safety goals. California has set a very attainable target: reducing traffic deaths and serious injuries by 30% by 2035. Given the 3,807 traffic deaths recorded last year, one could call this goal Vision 2665.
“Our investments are making our roads safer, our communities stronger, and our infrastructure more resilient,” said Governor Gavin Newsom in a statement. “While there’s still more work to do, we’re doing it together, up and down the state, making smart, targeted improvements that will protect Californians for years to come.”
That being said, most of the funding announced this week goes towards education, enforcement, and planning projects and not infrastructure improvements.
What Is Funded
One of the largest recipients is the California Highway Patrol, which will receive about $22 million across 20 separate projects. The grants will pay for DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols, speed-enforcement operations, public-education campaigns, and community outreach programs focused on teen drivers, motorcycle riders, and older adults. Several of the CHP projects also aim to expand enforcement and education in school zones and high-injury corridors.
While the state brags that a “significant portion of the money will go toward programs supporting pedestrians and cyclists” there is little funding for road diets, bike lane, or sidewalk projects. Instead, local agencies will use the grants to conduct safety workshops, helmet-distribution events, crosswalk enforcement operations, and assessments of problem intersections near schools and transit stops. Some cities will receive funding to run driver-awareness campaigns and to partner with community-based organizations on targeted outreach in areas with high rates of serious crashes.
Several grants support local emergency-response systems, including new extrication equipment (think jaws of life"), protective gear for first responders, and improved coordination tools for multi-agency responses. One notable project, led by UCLA, will pilot a prehospital blood-transfusion program that allows paramedics to administer blood at crash scenes — a critical intervention that can improve survival rates in severe trauma cases.
The funding package also includes funds for technology and data analysis. OTS will support development of a real-time predictive-analytics platform to identify emerging crash patterns and inform local safety strategies. Another project will explore the use of advanced AI-based tools to help cities and counties prioritize safety improvements, especially in areas where traditional traffic-engineering resources are limited.
Local governments will have flexibility in how they deploy the funds, but OTS emphasized that all projects must directly address factors contributing to injuries and fatalities. That means cities with high rates of speeding can target enforcement and traffic-calming outreach, while rural counties with long emergency-response times can invest in tools and training.
The funding runs through September 2026, after which OTS will evaluate program outcomes and begin planning the next round of statewide safety investments. For a more comprehensive list of what was funded, visit the Governor's press announcement.
