SUNDAY'S EDITORIAL

By T&D Staff

Speeding laws are not to be ignored in S.C.

THE ISSUE: Speeding laws

OUR OPINION: Don't assume 10 mph grace; conditions matter

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety a week ago graduated its first class of new state troopers since 2003. The 28 who completed the S.C. Highway Patrol training will be taking to the state's roads to bring the total force of state troopers to 783. An additional class of troopers will graduate in November.

Every one of them is needed in a state with one of the highest roadway death tolls in the nation. And South Carolina is THE state with the highest death toll from speeding over the past two decades, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration numbers. At least one person was speeding in nearly half of all fatal accidents in South Carolina from 1983 to 2002.

There were 1,053 driving fatalities in South Carolina in 2002, with 495, or 47 percent, considered speeding-related. Kansas, Rhode Island and Connecticut had higher proportions of speeding-related deaths in 2002, but ranked below South Carolina for the period.

If the statistics are bad news for South Carolina as a whole, they are even worse for Orangeburg County. As of Sept. 11, the county with the state's fifth highest fatality count in 2004 already has 36 deaths in 2005. That's 10 more than at the same time a year ago.

Couple our county's land area as the second largest in South Carolina with a wealth of rural roads and interstate miles and we're getting accidents and the resulting deaths and injuries em masse.

The inescapable conclusion is that speed is a deadly factor.

Studies by AAA Carolinas show South Carolina motorists on average drive 10 mph over the speed limit because they believe troopers won't stop them at that speed. Experience seems to bear that out, with interstate stops often being motorists traveling in excess of 80 mph. There also is the one-the-road and in-the-courtroom practice of reducing tickets to the lesser violation of speeding under 10 mph.

But as The (Columbia) State reported in an article distributed statewide by The Associated Press, there is no written policy on not pulling over someone exceeding the speed limit by less than 10 mph. And there certainly is no guarantee that a citation for speeding more than 10 mph will be reduced.

While it is ample punishment to many when they must fork over the fine for speeding under 10 mph and suffer higher insurance premiums, there are clearly situations in which the more serious speeding violation should stand.

That's why troopers say when to make a stop is at their discretion. With most motorists exceeding the limit, it has to be.

There's considerable difference in driving 79 mph on an interstate highway with little traffic and clear conditions than doing even 71 mph on a crowded highway with rain falling. Driving according to conditions remains a viable consideration in traffic law enforcement.

New troopers often are considered gung-ho in their enforcement of speeding and other traffic laws. The recent class of 28 may be no different. With South Carolina's current experience with speeding deaths, they have ample reason to consider strict enforcement.

And if the threat of death on the state's roads isn't enough to slow down drivers, maybe the idea of being ticketed at speeds even under 10 mph over the limit is.

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