Please note that DPS will begin posting enforcement results Thursday on the www.fastenforlife.com website.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2002
CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

COLUMBIA - The South Carolina Department of Public Safety along with local law enforcement from around the state began saturating South Carolina’s deadliest roads this week getting tough on reckless and irresponsible driving as part of the Fasten For Life campaign.

“The number one killer on our highways is a distracted driver,” said DPS Director Boykin Rose. “Two things are guaranteed lifesavers in your vehicle: your safety belt and your undivided attention to the road.”

This media and enforcement wave of the Fasten For Life campaign runs through June 2. DPS is also working in conjunction with other agencies and private entities to conduct child safety seat clinics to teach parents how to properly buckle up children. DPS is also conducting an extensive paid media and public information campaign.

DPS has identified the roads in each county that have the highest frequency of traffic collisions resulting in death and serious injury and has analyzed the violations that were cited as contributing to those collisions. Those numbers also have been broken down by restraint usage among those killed or seriously injured in the collisions.

Each day during the enforcement period, law enforcement will make a concerted effort to detect the identified violations as well as other traffic offenses that are known contributors to serious traffic collisions. Throughout this enforcement effort, no warnings will be issued for violation of the occupant restraint laws. For information on South Carolina’s seat belt laws, please log on to (http://www.fastenforlife.com/sc_seatbelt_law.htm).

Law enforcement is placing a special focus on South Carolina’s secondary highways where the majority of collisions occur (for a county-by-county listing of the highways of concentration, log on to http://www.fastenforlife.com/targeted_roadways_and_violations.htm).

The most common violations that officers will be looking for include such things as speeding, failure to yield the right of way, DUI and disregarding a sign/signal.

SI/75/02

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