Last Thanksgiving holiday weekend, 11 people died on South Carolina roadways. Highway Patrol troopers are hoping to keep this year's number down through enforcement and education.
The push is for seat belt usage and avoiding driver fatigue, as we head into one of the heaviest holiday travel periods.
Troopers and officers will be distributing safety materials and talking to motorists about the dangers of long trips and congested traffic.
As we mentioned, in 2011 there were 11 deaths. The year before, there were three.
"We had one fatality over the Labor Day weekend this year, which was a long travel period and a time when we typically see a greater number of collisions and deaths," SCDPS Director Leroy Smith said. "While that was tremendous progress, it is not good enough. Our goal for Thanksgiving weekend is ZERO fatalities. One death is unacceptable to us, and we will use every tool we have to prevent highway tragedies."
The official holiday travel period begins Wednesday at 6 p.m. and ends Sunday at midnight.
There have been 727 traffic deaths this year compared to 745 last year at this time (this includes motor vehicles, pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists), according to the state department of public safety . Of 480 motor vehicles deaths, 279 of those people killed were not wearing safety belts.
Fatality prevention largely comes down to the motoring public taking simple steps to protect themselves and their families, said Highway Patrol Col. Mike Oliver. "We are still seeing a disproportionate number of deaths where motorists were not buckled up. I cannot emphasize enough how often our troopers see collisions where people would have likely survived had they been properly restrained."
State Transport Police are also involved in the safety push. Those officers, who are responsible for regulating and enforcing commercial motor vehicle traffic, will place a strong emphasis on helping motorists understand some of the challenges commercial drivers face, said Col. Leroy Taylor, State Transport Police.
"Some people simply don't realize the challenges of interacting with truck traffic," Taylor said. "Large trucks cannot maneuver as quickly to avoid collisions as a smaller vehicle. We are educating motorists to stay out of CMVs' blind spots and to remember not to stop suddenly or veer in front of a CMV." At the safety breaks, motorists will have a chance to get into the cab of a CMV and observe what it is like from a truck operator's perspective.
The public safety department thinks the roads could be more crowded this year because of low gas prices. Per gallon prices at some stations on the Grand Strand are below $3.
Public safety educators offer the following advice to drivers making long holiday trips:
*take frequent breaks to stretch your legs and get some fresh air
*keep a safe following distance (at least three seconds behind the car in front of you; to measure the three-second rule: start counting when a car passes a fixed object; it should be three seconds before you pass that fixed object as well. It will take an attentive driver half that time to react to a hazard).
*reporting aggressive drivers or drivers exhibiting signs of impairment by calling *HP;
*being aware of work zones, of law enforcement assisting other motorists and paying attention to the Move Over laws;
*refraining from travel right after a large meal when you might be more prone to suffering from fatigue behind the wheel.
