Governor's Representative for Highway Safety
to Retire on April 30; Joe Parker Credited With Making
North Carolina Programs Into National Models
RALEIGH, N.C., April 24 Joe
Parker, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP) and
Governor's Representative for Highway Safety, will retire from both positions
on April 30. He notified Gov. Mike Easley of his intention to step down in
January.
Parker, 69, has led the state's highway safety program since 1993. Soon
after his arrival, he established the Governor's Highway Safety Initiative and
created "Click It or Ticket," North Carolina's much-praised seat belt and
child passenger safety program. "Booze It & Lose It," the anti-impaired
driving campaign, followed in 1994. Both have been recognized as national
models for traffic enforcement and public education campaigns.
In fact, for the first time, "Click It or Ticket" will be the working
model this spring throughout the Southeast. Other participating states
include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina and
Tennessee. North Carolina's campaign will begin May 14 and continue through
June 3.
Since Parker joined the GHSP, North Carolina lawmakers united to pass
significant legislation that strengthened the state's highway safety laws.
Among the improvements were Graduated Driver Licensing; increasing age, weight
and position requirements for safety seat and seat belt use; adding points to
the license of drivers who violate child passenger safety laws, and toughening
penalties for impaired driving -- including the permanent loss of both driving
privileges and the driver's vehicle.
"I am proud that legislators saw fit to give law enforcement officers and
judges better tools to require seat belt and child safety seat use, and to put
a stop to the devastation of drunk and drugged driving," Parker said. "I
thank everyone who worked so hard to turn these goals into realities. Much
more needs to be done to save lives and prevent injuries on our roadways, but
I believe we are moving in the right direction."
National highway safety advocates agree. In January, Parker received the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Public Service Award,
its highest commendation, for "his extraordinary leadership to reduce traffic
deaths and injuries." Prior to that, Parker was a leading candidate to become
NHTSA Administrator had there been a Gore Administration.
"Under Joe Parker's leadership, North Carolina has been one of the Top 10
states for high seat belt use and for low alcohol-related traffic fatalities,"
said Adele Derby, NHTSA Associate Administrator. "Joe Parker has saved
lives."
Chuck Hurley, executive director for highway safety at the National Safety
Council in Washington, DC, concurred. "North Carolina has made great strides
in highway safety, and Joe Parker had a lot to do with that. I've had the
honor of working with a lot of leaders across the country, and not many can
match Joe's commitment or enthusiasm. 'Click It or Ticket' and 'Booze It &
Lose It' are the proven ways to increase safety and decrease fatalities on our
roadways. It's a lesson North Carolina has taught the nation, and Joe Parker
has been the messenger."
Prior to joining state government, Parker was principal stockholder,
president and chief executive officer of Parker Brothers, Inc., a newspaper
publishing and commercial printing concern in Ahoskie. The business was sold
in 1988 to Park Communications.
Always interested in public policy, Parker was an organizer of
Northeastern North Carolina Tomorrow, a 16-county economic development
organization based at Elizabeth City State University. He served eight years
on Gov. Jim Hunt's State Goals and Policy Board, four of them as vice
chairman.
Other civic activities include membership on the board of trustees of Pitt
County Memorial Hospital; vice chairman of the Roanoke Island Historical
Association; chairman of the Hertford County Economic Development Commission;
and founder of the Hertford County Committee of 100. He is listed in Who's
Who in America and Who's Who in Finance and Industry.
Parker served 35 years in the military, primarily in the North Carolina
Army National Guard, retiring with the rank of Colonel. He served as the NC
Guard's first State Public Affairs Officer from 1977 to 1985. He later served
two tours at the Pentagon as a public affairs spokesman.
Parker is a graduate of the United States Army War College and holds a
master's degree in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill.
Parker and his wife of 44 years, Lauretta, are members of the Hayes-Barton
United Methodist Church and reside in the Oak Park subdivision in Raleigh.
They have two children, Katherine Parker-Lowe, an attorney in Ocracoke, and
Joseph W. Parker, an attorney in Durham.
Memorandum
To: Editors
From: Joe Parker, Director
Governor's Highway Safety Program
Re: Retirement
Date: April 24, 2001
Forgive this informal communication, as I've come to know many of you well
over the years. After eight years of service to the Governor's Highway Safety
Program, I will retire on April 30. I would be most grateful if you would
publish the brief letter below, in which I attempt to thank the many people --
particularly local law enforcement agencies -- who have made this job so
wonderfully difficult to leave. I also thank you for all you and your staff
have done to promote "Click It or Ticket," "Booze it & Lose It," and highway
safety in general.
Letter to the Editor:
After eight years and countless miles of travel on North Carolina
roadways, the time has come for me to step down as director of the
Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP). It has been an extraordinary
ride, and it's all because of the dedicated support of people too
numerous to name.
Suffice it to say the success of "Click It or Ticket," the state's seat
belt and child passenger safety program, and "Booze It & Lose It," the
campaign to rid our roads of drunk and drugged drivers, would not have
been possible without much hard work. I would like to thank the local
law enforcement officers, fire & rescue personnel, health providers and
highway safety advocates who have joined me in this grand crusade. I'd
also like to thank the legislators who saw fit to toughen our highway
safety laws, and the judges who stand ready to make those laws work.
While I will leave the GHSP on April 30, just two weeks before the
kickoff of the spring "Click It" campaign, please know that I'll never be
far from the sidelines, ready to commend your tireless efforts to save
lives and prevent injuries on our roadways.
Regards,
Joe Parker
MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here
http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X17845112
