FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 28, 2006

CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8409

 

FATALITIES DOWN 13 PERCENT AS SUMMER’S END NEARS

 

COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces that highway fatalities have dropped by 13 percent compared to the previous year. This is the largest drop since the new safety belt law went into effect and trooper strength began climbing again last year.

 

The new safety belt law took effect last December 9, 2005, and a number of  new troopers have been added to patrol roadways since last September. An additional 46 Patrol recruits are currently undergoing training and will graduate December 1. 

 

“Obviously, our hope is that more stringent enforcement coupled with the primary safety belt law have been factors in increasing the safety on our roadways and this trend will continue,” said SCDPS Director James Schweitzer. “We still have much work to do especially in the area of impaired driving.”

 

As of July 25, 536 people had died on state roads compared to 618, who were killed during the same time frame in 2005. That equates to a 13 percent decline in fatalities so far in 2006. In 2005, 1,094 people were killed on South Carolina roads. The year 2005 ranks as the second worst for fatalities since 1972 when 1,099 people died.

 

The most recent safety belt survey also showed an increase in safety belt compliance to about 73 percent.

 

Schweitzer added that while the fatality reduction is encouraging, the public should not become complacent. Most collisions are due to driver error, which puts much of the responsibility for enhancing safety on our roadways on the driver. 

 

Alcohol remains especially problematic as a cause in fatal collisions. The department is preparing to begin a strong push against impaired driving with the Sober or Slammer campaign, which will focus on those last weeks of summer surrounding Labor Day. 

 

The 100 Deadliest Days of Summer, which began on Memorial Day, concludes Labor Day. SCDPS, working in conjunction with local law enforcement across the state, is focusing its efforts on reducing injuries and saving lives through the use of public safety checkpoints, saturation patrols in those areas identified as “high crash corridors” and through a concentrated educational campaign using television and radio ads to inform motorists of the “Sober or Slammer” campaign.