Greenville Traffic Safety Task Force awarded for efforts to reduce accidents

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - An initiative comprised of multiple agencies in one Eastern Carolina city has been recognized for its efforts to lower the number of car accidents and pedestrian accidents.

The Greenville Traffic Safety Task Force was awarded the Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Award at the Governor’s Highway Safety Conference in New York City.

The award recognizes notable achievements in the field of highway safety by individuals, coalitions, organizations, nonprofit groups, businesses, media, government agencies, universities, or programs.

The group found and implemented solutions like high-visibility crosswalks, traffic patterns, and increased enforcement in crash-prone areas.

Officials say Greenville was ranked number one for the highest number of crashes in cities with populations of 10,000 or more by the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles for many years. In 2021, Greenville moved from the number one ranking for crashes in the state to the number seven slot. In 2022, Greenville has moved to the number eight slot.

The traffic safety task force is made of ECU Health Medical Center’s Eastern Carolina Injury Prevention Program (ECIPP), the Greenville Police Department, the City of Greenville’s Engineering Department, the ECU Health Police, ECU Police, North Carolina Department of Transportation and Greenville Metropolitan Planning Organization.

It was first created by the ECIPP and The Greenville Police Department after finding the city saw an average of over 400 crashes per month in a city of less than 100,000.

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