Port Washington Police Help Launch 'School's Open - Drive Carefully' Campaign

“School’s Open – Drive Carefully.” That’s the message Port Washington Police are issuing to drivers as school reopens this week.

Commissioner Angela Mullins, Commissioner James Duncan, Acting Chief of Police James Salerno, Deputy Chief Jeff Morris, Deputy Chief Robert M. Del Muro, and Officers S. Petrizzo and W. McNally from the Port Washington Police Department, along with local school children from the Port Washington Community Action Council summer program, helped AAA New York to launch its 69th annual “School’s Open – Drive Carefully” campaign at the Port Washington police headquarters.

Colorful “School’s Open” posters have been mounted in Port Washington to warn motorists to be extra careful as thousands of local youngsters return to school.

“The help that we get from our club-area police departments adds to the effectiveness of our ‘School’s Open’ campaign,” said Donna Galasso, assistant director of the club’s traffic safety unit.

“We appreciate the efforts of the Port Washington Police Department which will result in increased safety for all students,” she added.

Galasso and Salerno remind drivers, including bicyclists, to be especially cautious in school areas, keeping their speed at or below posted limits and being prepared to stop, on both sides of the street, for school buses with flashing red lights, as required by New York State law.

The Club’s annual “School’s Open – Drive Carefully” campaign is conducted with local government and police agencies. Thousands of posters, bumper stickers and other educational materials are distributed through the program.

AAA New York State’s “School’s Open – Drive Carefully” program began in 1945. Since then, it has helped to prevent injuries and deaths among children of elementary school age.

AAA New York, the local AAA affiliate, provides automotive, travel and financial services to more than 1.6 million members in New York City, and in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Schoharie, Herkimer and parts of Lewis, Madison and Oneida counties.

Photo: (Left to right) Deputy Chief Robert M.Del Muro, Deputy Chief Jeff Morris, Commissioner James Duncan, Commissioner Angela Mullins, AAA Community Transportation Specialist, Christopher McBride, and Acting Chief of Police James Salerno helped to launch AAA’s “School’s Open – Drive Carefully” campaign at police headquarters in Port Washington, NY with children from the Port Washington Community Action Council summer program.