Road deaths drop thanks to seat belt law, extra troopers

IT’S NOT OFTEN that we have anything to celebrate on our highways. But the Public Safety Department’s recent report that highway fatalities were down by 13 percent from the previous year is a notable exception.

It’s difficult to overstate what an astounding improvement that is. The number of deaths recorded through Sunday was 573, compared with 668 for the same period last year. If that trend holds, we will post the largest single-year decline in highway deaths since at least 1969, the earliest year for which comparable numbers are available.

This extraordinary improvement coincides with two long-overdue state policy changes — the implementation of a real seat belt law and the rebuilding of a Highway Patrol that was depleted by reckless budget cuts, on top of an earlier failure to bulk up the patrol as the number of drivers skyrocketed.

As predicted, changing from a secondary to a primary seat belt law, which police are allowed to enforce when they see it violated, has led to a steady increase in seat belt use, which increases survival rates in collisions by about 50 percent.

A study conducted by the University of South Carolina’s Statistics Department found that seat belt use reached 72.5 percent in June. That’s up from 69.7 percent a year earlier and the highest rate ever recorded except for a blip in the summer of 2003, when it reached 72.7 percent. Not surprisingly, that high usage rate in 2003 was accompanied by a decrease in fatalities — a decrease that was reversed the following year when the number of people buckling up tumbled back below 70 percent.

The most encouraging finding in the seat belt survey might be that use is improving among the most resistant groups: Male drivers in general and boys and men driving trucks in particular recorded record-high seat belt rates, and seat belt use for nonwhites was at near-record levels. While they still wear seat belts at far lower rates than women, whites and people in cars, the improvements indicate that the tougher law, combined with a stronger police presence and outreach programs by the patrol, can lead to greater compliance with the law — which in turn leads to fewer deaths and less severe injuries in crashes.

Of course, as Public Safety Director James Schweitzer reminds us, you don’t have to worry about what happens in a crash if you aren’t in a crash, and driver error remains the primary cause of collisions in our state. So by all means buckle up, but don’t assume your responsibility ends there. Drive safely and attentively. Although they dramatically improve your chance of survival, even seat belts can’t protect you in every crash.