Chula Vista- More than 5,000 traffic warnings related to vehicle headlight failure or broken lighting equipment are issued each year in San Diego county. On many occasions, officers issue citations to drivers for these types of automotive problems and this represents an expense that low-income motorists cannot always afford. For this reason, a new program will be launch by the police departments in three cities in San Diego County to provide repair vouchers to drivers instead of issuing fines.
“Instead of giving you a ticket, they give you a Lights On voucher and explain how to redeem it, the vouchers can be used at participating locations on the lightson.org website, they can be used to repair lighting equipment worth up to $250 dollars, if the repair exceeds that amount, it will be the responsibility of the driver to cover the expense, ”said Rudy Tai, assistant chief of the San Diego Police. “Lights On” is a program that partners with law enforcement and auto service providers to provide vouchers to fix light bulbs and improve safety primarily for the benefit of low-income people.
The program was created by the Minneapolis-based non-profit organization Microgrants, which raises money to pay for the project. “Our officers appreciate having options and the Lights On program gives us that, the chance to help those in need while continuing to keep the community safe, it also gives us the chance to connect with people in ways they may not be used to it,” said Roxana Kennedy, chief of the Chula Vista Police Department.
In the cities where this program has been applied, more than 80,000 vouchers have been redeemed, but for the first time "Lights On" joined California police departments. “This program started in Minnesota with the intention that the police officers engage with the community and the intention for us here in National City , San Diego Police Department and Chula Vista is the same, this program is not going to cause the police officers make more traffic arrests, it will simply help us identify people who need help,” stressed José Téllez, National City Police Chief.
Scripps Health and the San Diego Padres Foundation have provided resources to fund the project. “For every donation received, Microgrants will allocate the same amount of money so that it can operate for the next three years,” revealed Sherman Patterson, vice president of the Lights On program. The program started in April and those drivers who receive a repair coupon will have a maximum period of three months to redeem it.
