Summerville Dubbed Traffic Safe Community

Press Release, AAA Carolinas

The Town of Summerville was named a 2012 South Carolina Outstanding Traffic Safe Community by the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety. 

Patrol Officer Antonio Gantt of the Summerville Police Department accepted the award during a ceremony on Jan. 31, 2013, at Seawell’s in Columbia.

In all, 15 South Carolina communities were honored, including three Grand Winners (Elloree, Newberry and Goose Creek) during the ninth-annual Traffic Safe Community awards luncheon hosted by the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety. Summerville was one of five winners in the Over 30,000 Population category. 

“One of the major issues the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety is tackling this year is texting while driving, with a strong focus on teen drivers, a group who has grown up continuously connected to cell phones and computers,” said Angela Vogel Daley, Public Relations Manager for AAA Carolinas. “AAA Carolinas’ goal is to create a culture change among teens concerning texting while driving.” 

The AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety provides awards in an effort to recognize those towns and cities that make a strong effort to make our state’s roads safer.

Colonel Michael Oliver, commander of the South Carolina Highway Patrol, and Phil Riley, from the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, congratulated and honored local law enforcement and community representatives. 

The foundation recognized 15 communities in total for leadership in traffic safety including: (* repeat winners) 

Population greater than 30,000:

•       Goose Creek* (Berkeley County)

•       Rock Hill* (York County)

•       Summerville* (Dorchester County)

•       Spartanburg* (Spartanburg County)

•       Charleston* (Charleston County)

Population between 10,000 and 30,000

•       Newberry* (Newberry County)

•       Mauldin* (Greenville County)

•       Port Royal* (Beaufort County)

•       Easley (Pickens County)

•       Irmo* (Lexington and Richland Counties)

Population less than 10,000:

•       Elloree* (Orangeburg County)

•       Due West* (Abbeville County)

•       Isle of Palms* (Charleston County)

•       Iva (Anderson County)

•       Lynchburg* (Lee County)

AAA Traffic Safe Communities are selected by looking at crash statistics, number of law enforcement officers per capita, and 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.

The 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.