ROCHESTER, NY, JUNE 25, 2009 - AAA Western and Central New York, along with Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, honored adult school crossing guards for their traffic safety efforts at their annual Crossing Guard Recognition Breakfast held today at the Italian American Community Center in Rochester.

Approximately 150 Rochester area crossing guards were honored for their dedication and service in safeguarding the lives of children walking to and from school. Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks addressed the crossing guards, their coordinators, and local political and law enforcement leaders. Special recognition was also given to Bea Nettnin for her 35 years of service as a crossing guard in the city of Rochester.

“AAA is honored to pay tribute to the unsung heroes of the school year – adult school crossing guards – who help our children to and from school safely, every day, rain or shine,” said Wally Smith, Vice President of AAA Western and Central New York. “We are also grateful to recognize the great efforts of communities that strive to advance the cause of traffic safety.”

AAA also presented a special award to the Town of Irondequoit for their success in AAA’s Community Traffic Safety Program, an awards and recognition program for communities of all sizes nationwide that identify and address their local traffic safety issues. The awards progress from Honorable Mention to Bronze, Silver, Gold, and to the highest level, Platinum.

Irondequoit received their third consecutive Gold award, given to communities that implement programs that demonstrate superior effort at addressing local traffic safety issues. The program also considers basic crash statistics, presence of a traffic safety leadership group, projects, and their effectiveness. Irondequoit demonstrated success with programs addressing DWI and underage drinking and driving; pedestrian, bicycle, school bus, and personal student safety; teen driver education; seatbelt compliance; and speeding and stop sign violations.

In New York State, top Platinum Honors were awarded to only nine communities: Baldwinsville, Camillus, Dobbs Ferry, East Syracuse, Fulton, Garden City, Irvington, Manlius, and Port Washington. Platinum winners not only demonstrate outstanding success in addressing local traffic safety issues, but show a clear trend of improvement over five years and/or provide data that is substantially better than the statewide data for communities of similar size.

As Upstate New York’s largest member services organization, AAA provides nearly 880,000 members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive related services. Since its founding in 1900, AAA has been a leading advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. Visit AAA at www.AAA.com.