COLUMBIA – The Town of Elloree has been recognized as one of AAA’s S.C. Safe Communities.

AAA Carolinas’ Foundation for Traffic Safety will name the state’s Traffic Safe Communities of the Year at a luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 15, at Seawells in Columbia.

Speakers will be Mark Keel of the S.C. Department of Public Safety and Dave Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas

Fifteen cities will be awarded for leadership in traffic safety in three population categories – less than 10,000, between 10,000 and 30,000 and more than 30,000. One city in each category will be named Traffic Safety Community of the Year based on crash statistics, number of law enforcement officers per capita, presence of a formal traffic safety program and existence of a special traffic division. It is the sixth year the foundation has identified the safest communities, and 11 of the 15 are traffic safe community repeat winners.

Grand prize winners will be announced for the first time at the luncheon.

The foundation examined these categories to find cities that actively pursue ways to enhance highway safety and make a strong commitment with extra law enforcement on the city’s roads. The number of crashes was a statistical standard used to see how successful cities are using these factors. The University of North Carolina-Charlotte provided the statistical analysis.

The top five South Carolina cities in each category are the following:

n Population greater than 30,000 – Summerville, Rock Hill, Goose Creek, Sumter, Mount Pleasant.

n Population between 10,000-30,000 – Simpsonville, Mauldin, Port Royal, Newberry, Hanahan.

n Population less than 10,000 – Lynchburg, Mayesville, York, Lancaster and Elloree.

“South Carolina had more than 1,000 deaths on the roads in 2007,” Parsons said. “We want to recognize communities that work hard and are successful in reducing traffic crashes.”

The Traffic Safety Foundation is supported by contributions from AAA Carolinas and its members to provide information and resources to educate the public on traffic safety and positively influence behavior to improve safety on North and South Carolina roads.

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