FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 20, 2001

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces that 23 people died in traffic collisions across South Carolina over the 78-hour President’s Day weekend. This is the highest number of fatalities on record for this time period in years past. It is the highest number of fatalities for any holiday weekend period since 1990 when there were 23 fatalities over the Christmas holiday period, which spanned 102 hours.

This deadly weekend, in which seven children 13 years old or under died, follows National Child Passenger Safety Week in which DPS, other state agencies and other private organizations and businesses teamed up to emphasize the need for proper child restraint. One of those children killed this weekend was a pedestrian and the other six were riding in a vehicle unrestrained.

"This is one of the highest weekend fatality numbers we have had in years and President’s Day weekend is not even one of our heavily traveled weekends such as Labor Day or Thanksgiving," said DPS Director B. Boykin Rose. "What is even more alarming, however, is that only one vehicle occupant that died this weekend was wearing a seatbelt."

There were five collisions that involved double fatalities, one killing a 10 and a 11 year old. Five people were charged with DUI as a result of collisions that resulted in deaths. One man was charged with reckless homicide, possession of a stolen vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident with death. Three pedestrians – including a 13-year-old girl -- were killed attending to disabled vehicles. Two motorcyclists were killed. Other passengers and drivers died in collisions resulting from a variety of causes including failure to yield right of way, losing control and running off roadway, falling asleep, and excessive speed.

"I was saddened when I heard that we had such a deadly weekend on our highways. I think if you look at these fatalities this weekend, there are certainly situations where motorists’ lives would have been saved had they been buckled up," said Gov. Jim Hodges. "These people who died needlessly on our highways this weekend are the best reason I could give for why we need primary seatbelt legislation."

Gov. Jim Hodges has proposed a primary seatbelt law in this year’s legislative session. A primary seatbelt law would allow officers to stop and ticket motorists for being unbuckled or having unbuckled passengers. Secondary enforcement, which is what South Carolina has now, means a citation can only be written after the officer stops the vehicle and cites the driver for another violation.

South Carolina had a preliminary of 1,059 fatalities killed last year. So far this year, there have been 132 fatalities compared to 120 at this time last year. About one-third of states have primary seatbelts laws. In those states with primary seatbelt usage laws, the seatbelt usage rate is significantly higher than secondary enforcement states. Research has shown that, when used properly, lap/shoulder belts reduce the risk of fatal injury to front seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent.

DPS will continue its Click It or Ticket program, emphasizing strong enforcement and public awareness of child restraint and safety belt usage. After strong enforcement and public awareness through Click It or Ticket in November and December 2000, South Carolina seat belt usage rose almost nine percentage points.

"If you look at the breakdown of this weekend’s fatalities, most were preventable and due to carelessness and driver inattention," Rose said. "We have to get drivers to take responsibility for themselves – and that means buckling up all the time."

--30--