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South Carolina’s Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) is partnering with law enforcement agencies in four other southeastern states as part of a bid to “crack down on excessive speeding and reduce speed-related deaths and collisions.”
According to a news release from the agency, SCDPS – and in particular the S.C. Highway Patrol (SCHP) – is coordinating with partners in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee on “Operation Southern Slow Down.” That means drivers on Palmetto State highways should “expect to see increased presence and enforcement” over the next few days.
The goals of this campaign? To “concentrate enforcement efforts on interstates and state highways to put the brakes on drivers traveling at speeds dangerously above the legal limit,” according to SCDPS – and to alert the public to the dangers of speeding.
“Our aim is to educate the public on the dangers of speeding and correct reckless behavior before it leads to disaster,” SCDPS director Robert G. Woods IV said. “Through a collective, united effort such as this, we are able to focus our resources and drive down the number of speed-related collisions.”
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According to SCDPS, speed factored in nearly 11,000 collisions causing nearly 100 fatalities between Memorial Day and Labor Day last year.
South Carolina has consistently ranked among the deadliest states in America when it comes to highway fatalities. According to a recent analysis of 2022 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) data conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Palmetto State ranked fifth nationally with 20.7 motor vehicle crash fatalities per 100,000 citizens. Assessed by the number of vehicle miles traveled, South Carolina led the nation with a 1.85 fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
An estimated 1,094 people perished on Palmetto State “dieways” in 2022 – down modestly from the 1,198 fatalities reported in 2021. That number dipped further to 1,028 last year. Still, the long-term trend lines keep pushing higher – even as state lawmakers mandated seat belt usage and launched a multi-million dollar public relations campaign entitled “Target Zero.”
Prior to 2016 – a year which saw 1,020 fatalities on South Carolina roads – annual traffic deaths had remained below the 1,000-mark dating back to 2007 (reaching a nadir of 767 in 2013).
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According to numbers compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), South Carolina saw the highest percentage increase in traffic fatalities (26 percent) of any state in the entire nation between 1994-2020. That massive spike came at a time when highway deaths declined nationally by five percent over the same period.
While speeding certainly plays a role in our state’s elevated number of highway fatalities, so does shoddy infrastructure. Three years ago, a report from the Reason Foundation highlighted the Palmetto State’s ongoing infrastructure issues. This report found that the Palmetto State has the fifth largest system of “state-controlled highway mileage” in America – which makes no sense considering South Carolina ranks No. 40 nationally in terms of its surface area and No. 33 nationally in terms of urbanization.
Lawmakers recently jacked gasoline taxes by 71 percent to “fix our roads,” but as this media outlet has meticulously documented core infrastructure needs are still being neglected in the Palmetto State as a result of lawmakers ongoing addiction to crony capitalist projects.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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3 comments
“Our aim is to educate the public on the dangers of speeding and correct reckless behavior before it leads to disaster,” SCDPS director Robert G. Woods IV said.”
Translation: “We need a little more money in the coffers so we will be engaging in enhanced revenue collection for a while.”
I’m pretty sure the money goes to the county and not the state.
Not all of it goes to the county.