Recent headlines have detailed the horrific terrorist attack in London, but the biggest threat to South Carolina families is something far more mundane -- drunken and reckless drivers. About 1,000 South Carolinians die on our state's roads every year, making our state third in the nation in the rate of driving fatalities.
But some help is on the way. After too many years of underfunding the state Highway Patrol, the General Assembly this year set aside enough money to hire, train and equip 100 new troopers. Those new troopers now are in class and should be on the road by the end of the year or early next year.
More troopers could mean fewer people dying on our dangerous roads. The reason is obvious: A strong law-enforcement presence cuts down on speeding and drunken and reckless driving. Troopers may be able to more quickly respond to accidents as well.
Those new hires, however, don't fully make up for years of neglect. The new trooper training class is the first since 2003. Right now, there are only 780 troopers statewide. In the year 2000, there were almost 1,000 troopers on the road. Since that time, the Highway Patrol has lost about 50 troopers a year -- even as the state added tens of thousands of cars and the roads became more dangerous.
Troopers complain that they are often so busy responding to accidents that they have little time for actual law enforcement -- catching speeders and drunken drivers. Our state is one of the worst for drunken-driving accidents and fatalities. Likewise, a recent study found that a higher proportion of traffic fatalities were speeding-related in South Carolina than in any other state in the past 20 years. Both of those facts point directly to the consequences of a understaffed Highway Patrol.
At least the Highway Patrol will be gaining troopers in the next year rather than losing them. State lawmakers also boosted pay for patrol employees by 6 percent in addition to the 4 percent increases most state workers received. That pay hike was long overdue. Too many troopers have left the Highway Patrol for other law enforcement agencies that pay higher wages.
The increase in the number of state troopers will make our roads a little less dangerous. But continued annual increases in the trooper ranks will be needed to keep pace with the growth of traffic -- and to protect our loved ones on the road.