Page 3 - AAA Schuylkill County – AAA Now! July/August 2015

AAA
Volume 27, No. 3
HEADQUARTERS OFFICE
340 South Centre St.
P.O. Box 990, Pottsville, PA 17901 Telephone: (570) 622-4991 • 1-800-666-SCMC
BRANCH OFFICE
202 East Broad Street, Tamaqua, PA 18252 (570) 668-1003
OFFICE HOURS
POTTSVILLE
Monday through Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday
9:00 a.m. - Noon
TAMAQUA
Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday
9:00 a.m. - Noon
OFFICERS ROBERT W. WACHTER
Chief Executive Officer
GEORGE URITIS
Chairman of the Board
DAVID J. HOLLEY
President
RONALD DERENZO
Solicitor
DIRECTORS
Wayne S. Hamilton ........................... Orwigsburg David J. Holley ......................... Schuylkill Haven Allen C. Koch ........................... Schuylkill Haven John Levkulic ........................... Schuylkill Haven Lowell P. Martin...................................Frackville Robert Mills...........................................Pottsville John D.W. Reiley...................................Pottsville George Uritis ......................................... Cressona
JUDIE KARHAN
Editor-in-Chief
DOROTHY CROUCH
Senior Editorial Director
HANS FRUST
Creative Director
ANGELA ILICH
Director of Production
SUSAN B. McCORD
Regional Editor
AAA Now! (ISSN 08988552; USPS 002-243) is published quarterly by AAA Schuylkill County, 340 South Centre St., Pottsville, PA 17901. Periodicals postage paid at Pottsville, PA 17901 and at additional mailing offices. A subscription price of $1 per year to primary members is paid through dues.
POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to AAA Now! Schuylkill County, 340 South Centre St., Pottsville, PA 17901.
AAA does not endorse any product or service advertised in this publication other than AAA club services and products. The publisher of AAA Now! Does not endorse or make any representations or warranties concerning any service or product advertised in this publication. The published is not liable to any advertiser or reader for any errors or omissions in advertising or editorial copy appearing in this publication, provided, however, that the publisher will print a correction after the publisher has been notified of an error or omission.
TM
AAA Schuylkill County Welcomes
George Uritis as New Chairman
of the Board
GEORGE A. URITIS
Chairman of the Board
AAA Schuylkill County has a new Chairman of the Board, George A. Uritis. We thank Wayne Hamilton for his five years as Chairman. As George assumes leadership, we
want to introduce him to
our members.
Originally, George was a resident of Shenandoah, moving to Cressona,
College in 1959 and 1960. In 1960, George moved to
St. John’s College, teaching in Ghana, West Africa. He then became affiliated with the Shenandoah Heights TV Association as president. At the same time, he worked as a stockbroker for Clark & Dodge Co. of New York and Hazleton, Pennsylvania.
Having entered the field of politics, George represented the 125th Legislative District as a State Representative for 1967-1968. After his stint as a State Legislator, he became a member of the Shenandoah School Board for three years, followed by becoming a chemistry teacher in Shenandoah Valley High School. From 1980 until 2008, George worked for the citizens of Schuylkill County as the Register of Wills, at the same time he was President of Blue Mt. Cable Co. until it was sold in 2010.
As George assumes his new role as Chairman of the Board of AAA Schuylkill County we wish him well.
Pennsylvania in 1976. He received his primary education at St. George School in Shenandoah; his secondary learning was from Wyoming Seminary. From there he enrolled at Notre Dame University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1957, and a master’s degree in 1960.
His employment kept him at Notre Dame as a graduate assistant and then an instructor at St. Mary’s
AAA is Paving the Way For Greater Auto Safety
ROBERT W. WACHTER
Chief Executive Officer
Each year the group of AAA clubs in the state of Pennsylvania meet to select certain legislative bills to be presented to the State Legislature. Representing
all of the clubs is the PA AAA Federation, which meets with the State House and Senate members in an effort to get AAA views to the public.
enforcement laws consistently have higher observed daytime belt use rates – 98.9 percent compared to
80 percent – and lower fatality rates than secondary
law states. Secondary belt law states consistently have more occupant fatalities among those who were unrestrainedatthetimeoftheirdeaths,anda15percent higher fatality rate per 100,000 population than primary law states.
Pennsylvania’s seat belt law requires that drivers and front seat passengers be properly buckled when riding in a passenger car, Class 1 and Class 2 truck, or motor home. Children age 8 and older, but under age 18, are required to be secured in a seat belt system anywhere in the vehicle. According to Penn DOT’s 2013 Crash Facts, 78.0 percent of all people involved in crashes were wearing seat belts; however, of all people who died in crashes, 57.5 percent were not wearing seat belts.
Thirty-three states, including Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, have primary enforcement seat belt laws. In a recent survey of AAA members in Pennsylvania, 58 percent supported primary seat belt enforcement for drivers of any vehicle.
For the 2015-2016 session of the state lawmakers, one of the proposed bills to be presented is the Primary Seat Belt Law.
AAA supports enforcement of the seat belt use requirements as a primary rather than secondary traffic offense. Primary enforcement safety belt laws allow a police officer to stop a vehicle solely for an observed belt law violation. Increasing seat belt use is the most effective way to decrease traffic fatalities and injuries.
Wearing a seat belt increases the chances of surviving a crash by up to 60 percent. States with primary seat belt
JULY/AUGUST 2015
3
WHAT'S INSIDE
Insurance Services • Member Services • Vacation Ideas • Automotive Services
Now!