AAA celebrating 80 years of safety programs

This week marks the 80th anniversary of the establishment of AAA's national traffic safety programs, which have helped teach generations of children and adults how to be safer drivers and protect them from crashes.

Well known as the nation's largest organization for motorists, AAA has been a pioneer in national traffic safety initiatives beginning with the establishment of its national traffic safety department in 1928.

"AAA is committed to the safety and security of motorists, pedestrians, cyclists and children," says Robert L. Darbelnet, president and CEO of AAA. "Over the past 80 years, AAA has been at the forefront in the development of programs to protect our members and the traveling public. We continue that commitment today through our traffic safety and driver improvement programs and advocacy efforts addressing key issues such as child passenger safety, senior mobility and teen driver safety."

Since the AAA School Safety Patrol started in 1920 and the first driver training was developed in 1935, AAA's legacy of traffic safety programs has continued and grown. Through the years, AAA has added programs to address important issues such as child passenger safety, teen and senior driver safety, seatbelt usage and air bag safety.

Today, AAA offers a wide array of traffic safety programs to address the issues affecting its more than 51 million members as well as other drivers across North America. They include driver education, child passenger safety and in-school programs.