Garden City Wins Top Award in AAA's Annual Traffic Safety Program

AAA Northeast awarded the Village of Garden City with a Platinum Award during its 53rd annual Community Traffic Safety Awards Program held this month at The Garden City Hotel. This is the third platinum award the Village has received in the past five years.

The Traffic Safety Awards Program is an AAA club-based awards program for communities of all sizes. Awards are given to outstanding communities based on their efforts to make the region’s roadways safer for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

“This award is the result of the hard work, commitment and cooperation between the Garden City Police Department, the Garden City Department of Public Works, the Garden City School District, the various Village Property Owner’s Associations and the Garden City Traffic Commission in working together to develop traffic safety programs, initiatives and improvements in an effort to make our streets safer for all residents and visitors,” Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson said.

The Village was recognized for its many traffic safety initiatives such as various traffic enforcement initiatives, car seat checks, educational programs in schools and at community events as well as engineering initiatives to promote safer roadways.

The Platinum Award, AAA’s highest honor, is given to communities that have documented new, perhaps innovative, traffic safety programs, projects or initiatives for the previous year. These communities have also demonstrated outstanding success with high scores in all eligible categories. Garden City is one of only six jurisdictions in the downstate area, and one of only three on Long Island, to receive the AAA Platinum Award.

After doing a detailed analysis of local crash data, the Village sought to reduce crash rates at specific accident-prone locations by making engineering changes and stepping up enforcement. In particular, marked improvements were made surrounding the Garden City Senior Center on Golf Club Lane where crosswalks, illuminated Stop signs and a Do Not Turn sign were installed. In the vicinity of Adelphi University, signage and street improvements were installed to enhance the safety of pedestrian traffic. The Village Police Department was also recognized for its outstanding efforts in traffic enforcement, particularly their efforts to curtail impaired driving, making 44 Impaired Driving arrests in 2016. In that same year the Police Department issued more than 10,500 tickets for various traffic and safety violations.

“Under the leadership of Commissioner Jackson, our police force ranks among the finest in the country. There is a general commitment to excellence among our officers, and the platinum level honor awarded to our Village by AAA Northeast recognizes their dedication to service, especially in the area of safe driving. As a Village, we are proud of the extent to which our police force keeps up with and follows current thought on safe driving,” Deputy Mayor Theresa Trouvé said.