Page 4 - AAA Every Day – AAA Hudson Valley – September/October 2019

MAIN OFFICE
618 Delaware Ave. Albany, NY 12209-1096 Phone: 518-426-1000 AAA.com
SERVICE CENTERS
All offices can be reached by phone at 518-426-1000
Latham:
Newton Plaza
595 New Loudon Road Latham, NY 12110
Troy: 514 Congress St. Troy, NY 12180
North Greenbush:
593 N. Greenbush Road Rensselaer, NY 12144
CLUB OFFICERS
Chairman ....... Robert Blackman Vice Chairman ....... Carl Florio
President/CEO ....... Michele Van Epps Treasurer ....... William A. Zeronda
Secretary ....... Alisa Henderson
DIRECTORS
Marc Ehrlich Joseph Herd Joseph Porter Michael Walsh
OFFICE HOURS
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
(Albany office only)
Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
(Troy office only)
Monday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Tuesday-Friday 9:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m.–1 p.m. (Latham and North Greenbush offices only)
TRAVELERS CHEQUES & PREPAID CARDS
Travelers Cheques are free of AAA service charges to members. Travelers Cheques and prepaid cards are available during office hours (listed above). Cash, cashier’s checks and credit cards accepted. Payment by credit card may incur a cash advance fee and/or cash advance interest rate charged by your bank.
All telephone calls received by the club are recorded for training and quality-control purposes.
The advertisements in AAA Every Day are, to the best of the Club’s knowledge, accurate representations of the products and services offered. However, no endorsement by the Club is intended or implied. As a membership service, any complaint against an advertiser will be investigated in the interest of seeing
a satisfactory and equitable resolution. All complaints should be addressed to the Editor. The Club reserves the right to reject any advertising including that not related to travel.
4 I SEP/OCT 2019
MAKING SAFETY STANDARD
AAA has been an advocate for traffic safety for more than 100 years. Safer mobility serves all AAA members, as well as the community at large. It is up to the individual AAA clubs to bring this advocacy to our local communities. At AAA Hudson Valley, we take community outreach seriously and personally. The Greater Capital Region is our home and we are eager
to roll up our sleeves and help. I would like to share with you examples of our hands-on approach to service.
Otto the Auto has been our Traffic Safety Mascot for more than 17 years. An entire generation of children in this area have grown up with him. When Otto visits schools and community events, he is making safety fun
and memorable. When Otto lights up and talks to children, you can see the kids light up as well. These early safety lessons about buckling up, using bike helmets and playing away from the street are hopefully planting a seed. With family reinforcement, that seed will continue to grow. We see some of these same children 10 years later in our driver safety classes.
Our efforts toward safety education don’t end there. Proper seat belt and child safety restraint use is the No. 1 way to reduce injury and death on our roadways. Reminding people to buckle up isn’t enough. That is why our club has two experienced and certified child passenger safety seat technicians. Hundreds of parents and grandparents make free child safety seat inspection and installation appointments at our main Albany office every year. In fact, we are the busiest child seat fitting station in the Capital District. Our traffic safety team also goes out into the community visiting large scale community “seat check” events.
Much work still needs to be done. Increased seat belt use during the 1980s and ’90s saved thousands of lives. In the past five years, death and injury numbers have flattened out. With more than 37,000 deaths per year on U.S. roadways, a new push is needed. The good news is that more than 90 percent of New Yorkers now buckle up in the front seat. That buckle up habit does not however seem to follow us when we ride in the back seat. Many people also tend to think seat belts aren’t needed in taxi cabs and ride share trips. This is not the case.
To address this safety gap, AAA Hudson Valley is partnering with our neighboring club AAA Northway to host an Occupant Protection Summit on Sept. 20 at the Hearst Media Center in Colonie. This summit will advocate for proper restraint for “every seat, every ride.”
Michele Van Epps
Michael Sweeney, AAA Traffic Safety Educator, accepts the Partners For Safety Award which recognizes businesses for their contributions
in support of traffic safety programs assisting Governor’s Traffic Safety Council and Department of Motor Vehicles in their efforts. Presenting
the award is Theresa Eagan, Executive Deputy Commissioner of the DMV.
AAA Hudson Valley will continue to look for ways to promote safe travel. I also am happy to report that our efforts have been recognized on the state level. This past July, the NYS Commissioner of Motor Vehicle presented our club’s Traffic Safety Educator, Michael Sweeney, with its Partners in Safety Award! Check out page 7 for a list of our Traffic Safety courses and programs.
Now that school is back in session, morning commutes take longer.
Please be extra cautious to watch for school buses and children.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE