CHP Launches Santa Barbara-Buellton Regional Crash Reduction Campaign

The California Highway Patrol starts regional effort to make highways safer

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) Santa Barbara Area and CHP Buellton Area offices will use grant funding to implement a regional traffic safety campaign in Santa Barbara County to encourage safe driving behaviors and help deter dangerous driving habits.  This one-year project starts on October 1, 2025, and ends on September 30, 2026.  

The Santa Barbara Area will deploy officers to conduct enforcement on United States 101; State Routes 154, 192, 150 and 217; and on unincorporated roadways where the CHP Santa Barbara Area has jurisdiction.  The safety campaign will also include a community-based task force to raise awareness about the dangers of speeding, improper turning, impaired driving, automobile right-of-way, and unsafe lane change violations, and other risky driving behaviors. 

“We are taking a proactive approach to keeping our roadways safe in Santa Barbara County,” said CHP Captain M. J. Logie, Commander of the Santa Barbara Area office.  “This grant will build on the momentum achieved from past education and enforcement efforts in the CHP Santa Barbara Area.” 

According to the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, eight people were killed and 533 people were injured in crashes on state highways and unincorporated roadways patrolled by the CHP’s Santa Barbara Area jurisdiction between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023.  The leading primary crash factors were speeding, improper turning, impaired driving, automobile right-of-way, and unsafe lane change violations.  Officers will also focus their enforcement efforts on distracted driving and seat belt violations.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.