Sixteen people died on state roads in the first four days of this year, nearly three times the number killed during the same period last year, the S.C. Department of Public Safety said Monday.

From Jan. 1 to 4 last year, six people died in traffic accidents statewide, the department said.

None of the motorists killed since New Year’s Day was wearing a seat belt, agency records show.

State Rep. Joel Lourie called that “tragic.” The Columbia Democrat is pushing for a state law that would allow police to ticket motorists solely for not wearing seat belts. Officers can do it now only if motorists are stopped and charged for some other offense.

“The statistics today are a tragic confirmation about the need to push this legislation sooner as opposed to later,” Lourie said Monday.

A “primary enforcement” law would save 100 lives and prevent 1,700 serious injuries in the first year, Lourie said, citing studies by state and national transportation agencies.

Lourie’s bill passed the state House and the Senate Transportation Committee last year.

But Sen. John Kuhn, R-Charleston, a committee member who opposes the bill, said Monday he does not expect it to pass the Senate — or even get to the floor for debate — when the Legislature reconvenes next Tuesday.

“There are a lot of senators on both sides of the aisle who don’t like this bill,” he said. “Government has got to quit being like Big Brother, and this is the quintessential Big Brother bill.”

Will Folks, spokesman for Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, said Monday the governor has “clearly demonstrated he wants to make South Carolina roads safer.” But Sanford will not decide whether to support the seat belt bill until he sees “what form it will take as it goes through the legislative process,” Folks said.

About 20 states have “primary enforcement” laws, Lourie said.

Of the 770 motorists killed last year in South Carolina, 543, or about 71 percent, were not wearing seat belts, the Department of Public Safety said.

In 2003, a total of 956 people — the higher total includes pedestrians, motorcyclists and others — died on state roads, compared with 1,053 in 2002.

Twenty people, including two pedestrians and two motorcyclists, died during the 102-hour New Year’s holiday period that started at 6 p.m. Dec. 31 and ended midnight Sunday, the department said.

That was the second-highest number of deaths recorded during a holiday period in the last decade, the department said. Twenty-one people died during the 102-hour July 4th holiday in 2000.

Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484 or rbrundrett@thestate.com.