Mount Pleasant, Newberry and Lynchburg are the three South Carolina communities named grand winners of the 2010 Traffic Safe Community of the Year today, one for each population category, by AAA Carolinas’ Foundation for Traffic Safety.
“South Carolina is the fourth worst state in the nation for the percentage of traffic deaths involving alcohol,” said Dave Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas.
“The good news is traffic deaths overall dropped below 900 last year for the first time this decade,” he noted
Traffic safety is a major public health issue for South Carolina as traffic accidents are the number one killer of teens in this state.
“Making our streets safer is a team effort,” said Parsons. “And South Carolina has several communities that have stepped up to the challenge.”
Buck Limehouse, Secretary of the South Carolina Department of Transportation, also presented awards to local law enforcement and community representatives at the sixth annual awards luncheon at Seawell’s Catering in Columbia.
“Safety is our number one priority at SCDOT,” said Secretary Limehouse. “But safety is a big job and we can’t do it all ourselves.” Secretary Limehouse went on to praise the partnership with South Carolina Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement agencies across the state.
The winners are:
- Mount Pleasant, Charleston County (Population greater Than 30,000). The Mount Pleasant Police Department participated in a range of education projects throughout the grade levels including drivers ed in the high schools and pedestrian and bicycle safety in the middle and elementary schools. They practice extra enforcement, checkpoints and publicity campaigns over the holidays to focus on drunken driving.
- Newberry, Newberry County (Population between 10,000 and 30,000). The entire Newberry traffic team works with a network of other local communities to increase saturation and presence. They concentrate on high crash areas that have proven prone to accidents and injuries. They also educate the community in schools and civic organizations about new laws and defensive driving techniques.
- Lynchburg, Lee County (Population less Than 10,000). The Lynchburg Police Department arose from the ashes of their burned police department building this year to be named the Grand Winner of the 2010 Traffic Safe Community Award. The department focuses on seatbelt enforcement, especially for young occupants. They also perform a large number of checkpoints in the community and have only witnessed five minor traffic accidents in the last 12 months.
The foundation recognized 12 other communities with outstanding awards for leadership in traffic safety including:
Population greater Than 30,000:
- Charleston, Charleston County.
- Goose Creek, Charleston County.
- Rock Hill, York County.
- Summerville, Dorchester County.
Population between 10,000 and 30,000:
- Hanahan, Berkeley County.
- Port Royal, Beaufort County.
- Mauldin, Greenville County.
- Simpsonville, Greenville County.
Population less Than 10,000:
- Lancaster, Lancaster County.
- Pelion, Lexington County.
- Mayesville, Sumter County.
- Bethune, Kershaw County.
Traffic safe communities are selected by looking at crash statistics, number of law enforcement officers per capita, presence of a formal traffic safety program and/or existence of a special traffic division. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte provided the statistical analysis and the AAA Carolinas Foundation chose winners in each category giving extra emphasis to those communities that are proactive in enhancing traffic safety efforts.
AAA Carolinas’ Foundation for Traffic Safety is a non-profit organization founded by AAA Carolinas and funded by AAA Carolinas’ member contributions that works to promote traffic safety initiatives in North and South Carolina.