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2005 concludes as one of the deadliest years on S.C. roads
By ADAM BEAM
Staff Writer
The trophy is nice, but Robbin Gilbert would rather have her son back.
On Dec. 1, Gilbert’s 19-year-old son, Ry Foster, became one of at least 1,084 people to die in traffic accidents in South Carolina this year. His high school basketball team won a Christmas tournament the week after the funeral and dedicated their victory to Foster. The trophy went to Gilbert, and she displays it at her home in Winnsboro.
“It’s nice to have,” she said. “It lets me know that, as I told you before, more people have been affected by this than just my family.”
This year was a sad one for South Carolina motorists. At the least, 2005 is the third-deadliest year on S.C. roads and the highest in 18 years. The record was set in 1972, when 1,099 people died in traffic accidents; in 1987, 1,087 people died. South Carolina leads the nation in speed-related deaths from 1983 to 2002, according to a federal study released in June.
Tom Crosby, spokesman for AAA of the Carolinas, said it is hard to explain why some years are worse than others.
“We have a certain amount of traffic lawlessness that just seems to permeate our society,” he said. “The age groups are still pretty much the same. It’s still those young males on rural roads.”
Crosby said more education could reduce the number of traffic deaths, citing a study by the insurance institute for highway safety that showed people without a high school diploma were three times more likely to die in a car accident.
“That translates directly to understanding the traffic laws,” Crosby said.
That’s how Gilbert hopes to help. Since her son’s death, she has joined the Families of Highway Fatalities, a statewide group sponsored by the Department of Public Safety.
She will speak Jan. 4 at her son’s high school, Richard Wynn Academy. And she will help with two programs, one for younger children, and another for older children and adults.
Her son was killed when he turned in front of another car. Gilbert said he was waving to some friends and lost his concentration.
And he wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
“Anything that I could do, if I had to go to school 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if one person would just put their seat belt on from listening to what we had to say,” Gilbert said.
In 2005, the state Highway Patrol had a number of town hall meetings throughout the state to get the community involved in traffic safety. Troopers went to schools and talked to students about wearing seat belts and not drinking and driving.
“It’s just a very great program,” Crosby said. “And we see this is happening and it’s very disappointing.”
Department of Public Safety spokesman Sid Gaulden said a slew of multiple fatalities in single-car accidents drive up the numbers. For example, six people died in two car accidents within two hours of each other during the Christmas weekend. He added that several multiple-death wrecks happened in the late summer and early fall, when it appeared South Carolina was on pace to break the fatality record.
In 2006, authorities hope a primary seat-belt law and more state troopers on the road will reduce the number of traffic fatalities. The Highway Patrol added 58 troopers in 2005, with another class starting in January, Gaulden said. Gov. Mark Sanford has asked for another 100 troopers in his proposed budget for 2006-07.
The department will continue its town hall meetings into the new year.
And, if South Carolina keeps with national trends, the state will see a 10 percent reduction in fatalities because of the primary seat-belt law.
Gaulden said 2005’s death toll should resonate with drivers as well.
“I think the sheer numbers this year should attract a lot of attention from the motoring public,” he said.
Crosby said the primary seat-belt law will help, but speeding is the biggest problem in the state. He urged local governments to make speeders regret breaking the law.
“Traffic courts in the state have a tendency to treat speeding as an easily reducible offense and so people get multiple speeding tickets without losing their license,” he said. “Speeding is the number one contributor to traffic accidents.”
Reach Beam at (803) 771-8405 or abeam@thestate.com.
