KANNAPOLIS — The city of Kannapolis has been named a 2013 Outstanding Traffic Safe Community by the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety.
The award was presented during the foundation’s 10th annual Traffic Safe Community Awards ceremony held Dec. 11 at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club in Durham. Sgt. Chuck Morgan and officers Tony Peeler and Eddie Ashworth were there to accept the award.
Kannapolis was one of 14 North Carolina locations to receive the award, and one of five locations with a population greater than 30,000. The awards are presented in an effort to recognize cities and towns that offer programs and initiatives to make roads safer. One major focus of the foundation continues to be the issue of texting while driving.
“The AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety continues to tackle the deadly practice of texting while driving, especially among teen drivers, a group who has grown up continuously connected to cell phones and computers,” Angela Vogel Daley, president of AAA Carolinas Traffic Safety Foundation, said in a news release. “AAA Carolinas’ goal is to create a culture change among teens concerning texting while driving.”
Traffic safe communities are selected by looking at crash statistics, number of law enforcement officers per capita and presence of formal traffic safety programs. 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.