Chuck Geveden, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety, presented a check for $9,000 to Major Duncan Wiggins of the Cadiz Police Department and a check for $7,200 to Deputy Kenneth Butts of the Trigg County Sheriff’s Department.
Geveden said he hopes that the funding will help to reduce the number of fatalities on highways. He also said that as of the morning of the check presentation, 579 people had been killed on the state’s roads, and that Trigg County ranks 73rd in the state when it comes to the number of fatalities this year.
The funding can be used for overtime enforcement and equipment, said a press release by Ryan Watts, a media contact with the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety, who also said that KOHS, part of the transportation cabinet, administers the federally funded grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA).
Eighth District State Representative John Tilley was at the check presentation, and said the transportation department is amazing in terms of reaching out to all parts of the state at a time when money is very tight.
Wiggins said the safety of the public is one of their top priorities, and also said that the police department works very closely with the sheriff’s department. Butts concurred with Wiggins, stating that the two departments work well together to keep the community safe.
Geveden said that there were 826 fatalities on Kentucky roads in 2008, including 649 people in motor vehicles, and of those about 70 percent hadn’t fastened their seat belts and more than 20 percent involved alcohol. So far this year, 17 more people have died compared to the same time period last year.
