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CHARLOTTE, NC (WACH) - AAA Carolinas is honoring the Town of Irmo.

The town was named a 2012 South Carolina Outstanding Traffic Safe Community by the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Irmo Police Chief Brian Buck accepted the award in Columbia last Thursday.

“One of the major issues the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety is tackling this year is texting while driving, with a strong focus on teen drivers, a group who has grown up continuously connected to cell phones and computers,” said Angela Vogel Daley, Public Relations Manager for AAA Carolinas. “AAA Carolinas’ goal is to create a culture change among teens concerning texting while driving.”

Fifteen communities in South Carolina were recognized for making a strong effort to make state roads safer. Officials say the communities are selected by looking at crash statistics, number of law enforcement officers per capita, and presence of a formal traffic safety program and/or existence of a special traffic division.

Population greater than 30,000: 

Goose Creek* (Berkeley County)

Rock Hill* (York County)

Summerville* (Dorchester County)

Spartanburg* (Spartanburg County)

Charleston* (Charleston County)

Population between 10,000 and 30,000

Newberry* (Newberry County)

Mauldin* (Greenville County)

Port Royal* (Beaufort County)

Easley (Pickens County)

Irmo* (Lexington and Richland Counties)

Population less than 10,000:

Elloree* (Orangeburg County)

Due West* (Abbeville County)

Isle of Palms* (Charleston County)

Iva (Anderson County)

Lynchburg* (Lee County)