PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA – The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) has been awarded a $275,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to reduce distracted driving-related crashes.

“Distracted driving poses a serious threat to everyone on the road,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “Thanks to this support from the Office of Traffic Safety, we’re empowering our community to prioritize safety and stay focused when they’re behind the wheel. It only takes a moment of distraction to change a life forever.”

The Health Department’s GreenlightLB Program will use grant funds to support educational activities and strategies focused on reducing distracted driving in Long Beach. Funds received will support initiatives conducted between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025, including:

• Teen and young adult traffic safety education through activities on high school campuses, educational workshops and youth traffic assemblies.
• Partnership with community leaders to equip neighborhood organizations with tools to promote positive change and reduce distracted driving on local streets.
• Distracted driving demonstrations to show the real-life consequences of taking your eyes off the road.
• Efforts to reduce health disparities and advance health equity through expanded partnerships offering bilingual and culturally relevant distracted driving education.
• A peer-to-peer youth program designed to empower young people to actively advocate for traffic safety.
• Collection of distracted driving data through citywide observations and community surveys to inform the Long Beach Vision Zero initiative and future programming.
• A train-the-trainer course to prepare community leaders with the knowledge and resources needed to educate the public on key traffic safety issues.

“With support from OTS, we’re shaping safer driving habits, especially among young people, and working to change the culture around distracted driving,” said Health Department Director Alison King. “Together, we can make Long Beach’s streets safer for everyone.”

Last year, the program reached 1,300 community members via:

• 16 distracted-driving community presentations and youth-focused workshops.
• 17 educational outreach tables and pop-ups to promote safer driving.
• The graduation of 12 students from across five Long Beach schools for the Safe Streets Ambassador program.
• Co-hosting the fourth annual Long Beach Safe Streets Awareness week.
• Conducting two extensive observational assessments at intersections across Long Beach.

“Silence your phone and put it away while driving,” said Office of Traffic Safety Director Barbara Rooney. “It is a simple, yet significant action that keeps yourself and others on the road safe.”

This is the fifth year the Health Department has received an OTS grant to continue its distracted driving prevention efforts. The activities funded by the grant are in line with strategies identified in the Health Department’s Strategic Plan: to develop and implement a citywide distracted driving prevention program to change the behaviors of drivers through public awareness, education and informed decision-making; expand activities during Safe Streets Awareness Week to educate drivers on how to safely share the streets with pedestrians and bicyclists; and offer Health Department resources, training and professional expertise to community members, schools, and other service partners to build capacity, extend reach, and advance public health goals. GreenlightLB’s program activities also help to advance goals identified in the City’s Safe Streets Action Plan to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2026.

About the City of Long Beach 
Long Beach is nestled along the Southern California coast and home to approximately 466,000 people. As an award-winning full-service charter city, Long Beach offers the amenities of a metropolitan city while maintaining a strong sense of individual and diverse neighborhoods, culture, and community. With a bustling downtown and over six miles of scenic beaches, Long Beach is a renowned tourist and business destination and home to the iconic Queen Mary, nationally recognized Aquarium of the Pacific and Long Beach Airport, the award-winning Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center and world-class Port of Long Beach.

For more information about the City of Long Beach, visit longbeach.gov/. Follow us on social to keep up with the latest news: Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube. More information about the Long Beach Health Department is available at longbeach.gov/health and on Instagram, Facebook and X.