Acting Director Named to Governor's Highway Safety Program; Transportation Secretary Selects Don Nail to Lead Agency on Interim Basis

    RALEIGH, N.C., May 11 Transportation Secretary Lyndo
Tippett today named Don Nail as acting director of the Governor's Highway
Safety Program (GHSP).  He follows former director Joe Parker, who retired
after eight years of service on April 30.
    "I have the highest confidence in Don and his ability to keep this
outstanding agency moving forward until a permanent director is named,"
Tippett said.  "His experience with the agency, and his dedication to highway
safety, have made him the ideal choice for this assignment."
    Nail joined the GHSP in June 1985 as a grants manager.  For the past 11
years, he has served as Manager for Planning and Evaluation.  He is a graduate
of Western Carolina University and earned a Master of Business Administration
degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  He is married and
the father of two high school-age sons.
    The GHSP operates a number of highway safety programs that are part of the
Governor's Highway Safety Initiative.  They include "Click It or Ticket," the
seat belt and child passenger safety initiative, and "Booze It & Lose It,"
which targets drunk and drugged drivers.  Both efforts have been hailed as
national models by the U.S. Transportation Department.
    In addition, the GHSP provides grants to state agencies, law enforcement,
research associations and other health and highway safety advocates to support
programs that improve traffic safety and reduce the incidence of crash-related
deaths and injuries.
    One of Nail's first responsibilities will be to oversee a statewide "Click
It or Ticket" campaign that will be launched at 11 a.m. Monday, May 14, at the
Children's Garden in downtown Raleigh.  Speakers will include Secretary
Tippett, Col. Richard Holden, commander of the State Highway Patrol and Paul
Jones, director of North Carolina SAFE KIDS/Buckle Up.  A multi-agency
checkpoint will follow on Ashe Avenue at Pullen Park.
    North Carolina's "Click It or Ticket" program is the model for a regional
high visibility enforcement and public education campaign to get drivers
throughout the Southeast to buckle up.  Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee will launch their programs on May
21.
    A second major "Click It or Ticket" event will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday,
May 22, at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 East Fourth
Street, in Charlotte.
    For information regarding this or other North Carolina highway safety
issues, call GHSP Public Information Officer Jill Warren Lucas at 919-733-
3083, or visit our Web site at: http://www.dot.state.nc.us/services/ghsp.

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