FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 22, 2004

CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8409

 

SCDPS TEAMS UP WITH BORDERING STATES,

LOCAL JURISDICTIONS URGING SAFE THANKSGIVING TRAVEL

                                                                                                                                                           

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety has teamed up with law enforcement in neighboring Georgia and North Carolina, as well as local jurisdictions to focus on enforcement and public safety efforts for Thanksgiving week -- the busiest and often deadliest travel holiday of the year.

 

State troopers, State Transport Police officers and local law enforcement will concentrate enforcement on all violations with a particular emphasis on the primary killers on the roadways including impaired driving, speeding and occupant restraint violations. The 102-hour holiday period begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 24, and ends at midnight Sunday, November 28.

 

Last year, 10 people died over the Thanksgiving travel period. There were 1,032 crashes resulting in 506 injuries.

 

“While strong enforcement is critical during this time period, perhaps the most important factor in decreasing fatalities is the individual driver,” said DPS Director James Schweitzer. “We can’t emphasize enough the need to take important lifesaving steps such as buckling up, carefully planning your travel route and obeying the speed limit.”

 

The South Carolina Highway Patrol will be teaming up with Georgia and North Carolina for an enforcement emphasis that specifically targets shared interstate systems including I-85, I-26, I-95 and I-20. Typically, there are fewer fatal collisions on interstates than non-interstate highway systems but Thanksgiving can be an exception as people are traveling longer distances to be with family. Also, the likelihood for multiple fatalities increases as families travel together in one vehicle. Thanksgiving is the beginning of a deadly time on South Carolina highways when impaired driving begins to spike through the holidays.

 

“Our number one problem over the Thanksgiving holidays is the heavy volume of traffic passing through our state,” said Highway Patrol Col. Russell F. Roark. “Historically, increased traffic flow mixed with speed and lack of restraint usage creates a deadly mix during this period.”

 

Local law enforcement, in conjunction with the Highway Patrol, will be concentrating enforcement efforts on rural roads and primary routes to combat collisions and fatalities.

 

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is also an Operation C.A.R.E. holiday period.  Operation C.A.R.E., or Combined Accident Reduction Effort, is a program of the International Association of Chiefs of Police designed to unite the law enforcement community across the United States and Canada in a campaign to reduce traffic deaths through high visibility enforcement and education.

 

For driving safety tips, please refer to our link: http://www.schp.org/general_hwy_tips.pdf. Please credit the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

 

MEDIA: The Highway Patrol Community Relations Officers will be available for media interviews at rest areas and welcome centers around the state on Wednesday, November 24. We will send a complete list of their locations tomorrow.