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In Our Community: Agencies awarded for work in preventing traffic injuries
community
From left, Trooper 1st Class Dave Snyder of the Georgia State Patrol Troop B Command, Officer Brett Peck of the Gainesville Police Department, Kimberly Martin of Safe Kids Gainesville/Hall County, Director Harris Blackwood of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and Officers Justin Martin and Adam Davis of the Gainesville Police Department pose with Buckle Up! America Awards. - photo by For The Times

Safe Kids Gainesville/Hall County community partners were presented Buckle Up! America Awards July 9 at a ceremony in Macon.

Trooper 1st Class David Snyder with the Georgia State Patrol Troop B Command was nominated in the individual category. The Gainesville Police Department was nominated in the law enforcement category.

Each demonstrated how to effectively address preventing traffic injuries and involve other organizations in a community effort, according to Harris Blackwood, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

“We are extremely proud of the work these professionals and volunteers do to save lives on Georgia’s roads and highways,” Blackwood said.

ER data from Northeast Georgia Medical Center shows injuries from motor vehicle crashes decreased by 39 percent from 2008-2013, according to Kimberly Martin, Safe Kids Gainesville/Hall County coalition coordinator and training coordinator for the Lanier Child Passenger Safety Task Force.

“(The nominees) are valuable resources for Safe Kids Gainesville/Hall County. Their passion for their prevention work truly shows, and I see how positively kids respond to them as they teach about various safety topics,” Martin said.

The awards were presented by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute, a part of the University of Georgia’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences Extension.

“These award winners focus on seat belts, child passenger safety and teen driving programs in the local community and across the State of Georgia,” said Don Bower, the institute’s project director, who presented the awards with Blackwood and Frankie Jones, institute director.