Traffic deaths on decline

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South Carolina, with the second-largest network of highways in the nation, has always faced enormous challenges in limiting traffic deaths. In recent years that challenge has become more onerous as state budget cuts have made for an overcommitted and historically thin force of state troopers. Also, many local law enforcement agencies have had reductions.

So far, 574 people have died on South Carolina highways compared to 689 at the same point last year. And for the just concluded 100 deadly days of summer — the period between the Memorial and Labor Day holidays — deaths are down dramatically. The Department of Public Safety should analyze these raw numbers to find out what went right so this state can make this reduction in traffic fatalities permanent.

It could be that vehicle accidents themselves are down. That would indicate that motorists were more safety conscious this summer, as driver error is by far responsible for most traffic accidents. Or, the numbers may say crashes remained stable, and deaths were down because more motorists used seat belts.

Another factor could be greater awareness among drivers of stricter DUI laws. Perhaps fewer drivers took to the road impaired because South Carolina lowered its DUI standard from a .10 blood-alcohol level to .08.

Some credit must be given to high-profile public relations campaigns from the DPS. It coordinated a massive show of visibility and force this summer and ran an advertising campaign showing, in the starkest terms, the consequences of drunk driving. High visibility by law enforcement has proven to be effective at modifying driver behavior. And those ads surely set a tone of seriousness that perhaps paid off in more caution on the roadways.

The state should carefully analyze the numbers and determine whether this good news is a quirk or the result of several well-intentioned investments and policy decisions. Or, it might be that drivers are taking their responsibilities more seriously.

The good numbers, in any case, still do not absolve the Legislature of its responsibility to put an adequate number of state troopers on the road.