The South Carolina Highway Patrol has a message to racing wannabes: Just because you're on a lonely country road, it doesn't make you Jeff Gordon.

Beginning in January, six new troopers will target speeders on rural Lowcountry roads in an effort to curb speeding-related crashes and fatalities in South Carolina. The Palmetto State now leads the country in speeding-related fatalities.

Most of those crashes occur on rural roads in South Carolina, said Terecia Wilson, director of safety at the state Transportation Department.

Another 18 new troopers will patrol the rest of the state beginning in 2006. The troopers will spend about 60 percent of their time in work zones and 40 percent using radar on rural roads.

"If you are speeding on South Carolina highways, chances are, you will get a ticket," Wilson said.

At least one person was speeding in nearly half the fatal accidents in South Carolina from 1983 to 2002, according to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation released last week.

Of the 969 fatalities that occurred in the state in 2003, 410 were speeding-related. Crash information for 2004 is not yet available.

The state is receiving $2.4 million in federal money for the additional troopers. Wilson said the money will be used for the new positions, radar, new cruisers and operating costs.

Some of the targeted roads in the Lowcountry will be River and Main roads in Charleston County, and Cooper Store and Bethera roads in Berkeley County.

State troopers are working with local law enforcement and speaking at forums in towns and cities throughout the state about road safety, said Sid Gaulden, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

"What we're doing is focusing on those counties and communities where there's been an increase in fatalities," Gaulden said.

Wilson said that road improvements also will occur -- including adding paved shoulders, road signs, guardrails and making stop signs larger -- to many of the rural roads.

"Right now, there is no room for error on the roads," Wilson said. "It is only perfectly safe if you are paying attention and obeying the speed limit."