ORANGEBURG COUNTY RESIDENTS INVITED

                                                            TO BREAKFAST WITH THE HIGHWAY PATROL

 

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol will be in Orangeburg this week for Breakfast With the Highway Patrol. Troopers will meet with citizens at The Kuckery Restaurant, 210 Cannon Bridge Road, on Wednesday, March 15, from 8-10 a.m.

 

Breakfast with the Highway Patrol will be taking place around the state this year to allow the state’s citizens an opportunity to meet their troopers. Various local restaurants are partnering with the Highway Patrol for this event. This forum allows the public an opportunity to interact with troopers and share concerns about their community in an informal one-on-one setting.

 

A Highway Patrol Community Relations Officer will bring the half-car, which is used to demonstrate the proper use of various child restraint systems, as well. Parents/caregivers are encouraged to stop by for child restraint information and demonstrations.

 

Last year, 57 people died on Orangeburg County roads compared to 64 in 2004. So far, six people have died this year compared to eight at the same time in 2005.

 

The first Breakfast With the Highway Patrol was held in Newberry County on February 24. The Breakfast With the Highway Patrol events are similar to last year’s Town Hall meetings held by the agency to promote safety initiatives in communities.

 

“I think we are most effective in convincing people of the importance of safe driving habits when we can sit down with them in their communities and in turn hear their concerns as well,” said Highway Patrol Col. Russell F. Roark. “People are dying on rural, secondary roadways…this is not just a big city problem. We need to get into those communities and let our citizens know how people are dying and how they can avoid the same mistakes on the roadway.”

 

The forum will include representatives from the local Troop 7 Office as well as Post B, which includes Orangeburg County. Col. Roark, the commander of the Highway Patrol, as well as other command staff from Columbia will attend as well.

 

One of the primary safety issues that the Patrol is experiencing throughout the state is a jump in fatalities due to single-vehicle collisions in which the driver loses control, runs off the roadway and strikes a fixed object. The Highway Patrol will bring information about how to recover from a driving situation such as this.

 

Other topics on the table include:

• the new primary seat belt law;
• finding out how you can become a “safety ambassador;”
• concerns about fatalities in the state/area;
• upcoming enforcement/safety initiatives;

 

“Everywhere our troopers go, the public likes to interact with them and ask them questions about various laws and safety issues,” said Capt. C.N. Williamson, Troop Seven commander. “This provides the perfect opportunity, and we look forward to getting to know our neighbors better and working together toward making Orangeburg a safer place to live and travel.”

 

The next Breakfast With the Highway Patrol forum will be Wednesday, April 5, in Chesterfield County.

 

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