RALEIGH - Colonel W. Fletcher Clay, Commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, today announced that Troop D, District 2 in Guilford County, received the sixth annual Captain T.L. Cheek Award for the largest one-year percentage decrease in collision reduction. The district posted a 10.9% decrease in collisions investigated in 2004 compared to 2003.

Several years ago, the Highway Patrol adopted the Total Quality Management system with the goal of reducing the number of deaths and injuries and collisions on the state's highways. "We are very pleased to see such a significant reduction in collisions in Guilford County," said Colonel Clay. "It is efforts like these that will make the roads safer for all of us."

District supervisor, First Sergeant Kenny Smith, attributed this year's decrease to a number of different factors. Under the Total Quality system, Patrol districts regularly determine when and where the most crashes are occurring and target their manpower to those areas.

"The Troopers in Guilford County have worked hard to make the roads safe. We apply line patrols in problem areas and increase enforcement for clear cut violations," said F/Sgt. Smith. "Troopers are committed to the task at hand, and we encourage them to do their best to make the highways safer."

The award is named after Highway Patrol Captain Tommy Cheek, who died of a heart attack in December 1999. Cheek was one of the Patrol's earliest proponents of using traffic crash data to target high collision corridors.