Safety Tree goes green
Published 10:21 pm Friday, December 4, 2015
![The Pilot Club of Suffolk’s Safety Tree will stay green all month long if the city’s roads remain fatality-free.](https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2015/12/use-IMG_0371.jpg)
The Pilot Club of Suffolk’s Safety Tree will stay green all month long if the city’s roads remain fatality-free.
A tree full of green bulbs has appeared on West Constance Road, and safety officials are hoping the bulbs stay green all month long.
The Pilot Club of Suffolk’s Safety Tree is an annual program meant to encourage safe driving during the holidays.
“Hopefully, it will make drivers more aware of their surroundings when they’re driving and drive safer during the holiday season,” said Cathy Richards, secretary of the Pilot Club of Suffolk.
In a 2005 study published by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, the authors analyzed crashes from 1975 to 2002 and found that two of the top four deadliest days for motor vehicle crashes were Dec. 23 and Dec. 24. The others were July 4 and July 3.
The top two deadliest days for pedestrians in that time period were Dec. 23 and Jan. 1, followed by Halloween.
This shows that holidays — particularly the winter holidays — truly do lead to more traffic crashes, which makes the Safety Tree important.
Richards said the organization works in partnership with the Suffolk Police Department, which will put a red bulb on the tree for each person who dies in a traffic crash in the city during December.
“Our goal is that it remains green all December,” Richards said.
The Suffolk Elks Lodge has provided the location and electrical supply. The tree was donated by the Food Lion on Godwin Boulevard, Richards said.