Ohio Traffic Safety Office Awards $306,000 Grant for the "RADD Ohio" Project

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO) has awarded RADD Ohio a grant to promote awareness of the dangers of drug and alcohol impaired driving among young adults ages 18-25. The grant will fund RADD Project's outreach through social media, college campus events and activations at concert venues and music festivals in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. 

Conducted by the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Misuse Prevention (HECAOD) and Recording Artists Against Drunk Driving (RADD), the Ohio Project works to reach its target audience where they live, work and play.  RADD Ohio also engages young musicians to (https://raddohio.org/radd-tv/) speak directly to their fans to remind them to always plan ahead for a safe ride home before going out and never get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol or using marijuana.

For 2023, RADD will be expanding its outreach to become more active in the "3C" communities it serves.  According to Coby Williams, RADD's Ohio's community outreach and engagement consultant, "We're looking forward to working with a growing list of partner organizations in these cities to get content and information to young adults to help prevent impaired driving so they get home safe."

The new year will also see RADD's return to the College Basketball All Star Game in April, The Classic for Columbus football game late summer, and expanded concert activations at multiple venues in Columbus and Cleveland through a growing partnership with AEG/Promowest.  On the festival circuit, RADD Ohio will be back as a stage sponsor to WonderBus in Columbus with more than 15,000 attendees and WonderFest in Cleveland which drew over 10,000 attendees.

Looking forward to the new year ahead, RADD's President Erin Meluso commended RADD's funders from the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, along with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Columbus City Council, Vision Zero Columbus, local law enforcement, and Ohio's music community for each of their contributions toward reducing substance-related death and injury crashes throughout 2023.

About RADD OHIO

RADD Ohio is a collaborative effort between the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, RADD-Recording Artists Against Drunk Driving, and the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery at The Ohio State University, plus partnerships with entertainment venues through AEG/PromoWest and Ohio universities statewide to educate young adults on the importance of making a plan before they go out to get everyone home safely. To learn more, please visit www.raddohio.org.

About RADD

California-based RADD has been honored with three prestigious national awards, two National Highway Traffic Safety Association Lifesavers Awards and one Governors Highway Safety Association Award in acknowledgement of its outstanding DUI prevention work with teens, younger adults ages 18-34, and communities, inclusive of regional and national coalition-building.  As a proud member of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving (NASID), RADD's primary focus is creating lifestyle-oriented alcohol and drug driving prevention programming for college students. The RADD Ohio Project is the pilot for a national model that will be expanding to other states in 2023. To learn more, please visit www.radd.org and www.raddohio.org.

About the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery (HECAOD)

An academic center at The Ohio State University, the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery (HECAOD) is a collaboration between the College of Social Work, College of Pharmacy and the Office of Student Life. It provides tools, training and technical assistance to campus professionals working to address collegiate substance misuse across the continuum. For more information on HECAOD, please visit https://hecaod.osu.edu/

About the Ohio Office of Traffic Safety

As a division within the Ohio Department of Public Safety, OTSO's mission is to save lives and reduce injuries on Ohio's roads through leadership and partnering efforts with others interested in traffic safety, utilizing the most innovative and efficient methods possible of managing state and federal resources. For Federal Fiscal Year 2023, OTSO awarded over $22 million for statewide programming to improve traffic safety and reduce traffic-related fatalities.

SOURCE RADD