S.C. faulted for its efforts in controlling drunken driving

WASHINGTON -- South Carolina fared better than many states in a nationwide report on traffic laws and safety issued Thursday, but the report shows the state has not gone the distance in seatbelt enforcement or in controlling drunken driving.

The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety report evaluated states' driving safety based on whether they have sixteen statutes covering impaired driving, teenage driving, and child and adult occupant protection on the books. South Carolina has eleven of the sixteen recommended laws

"The area (South Carolina) fails is in adult occupant protection," said Jackie Gillan, vice-president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "You are lacking two of the most important occupant protection laws: a primary seatbelt law and an all-rider motorcycle helmet law."

Primary enforcement seatbelt laws let police stop and ticket drivers simply for not wearing safety belts. South Carolina law permits police to fine motorists $25 for not wearing seat belts but only if they are pulled over for another violation.

An all-rider motorcycle helmet law requires all motorcycle passengers to wear helmets. The state requires only riders under 21 to wear helmets.

"States that have primary seatbelt laws have a much higher usage rates for seatbelts. People want to obey the law, and this is one of the most important and life-saving laws," Gillan said.

South Carolina's seatbelt use actually dropped in 2002 to 66 percent, down from 70 percent in 2001 despite "Buckle up SC" campaigns over the Thanksgiving and Memorial Day holidays to increase seatbelt use. The decline was the worst nationwide according to NHTSA.

The Advocates report also called for a high blood alcohol content law, which requires stiffer penalties for drivers convicted of driving under the influence with alcohol levels above a specific threshold.

The report recommends setting the high blood-alcohol level at .15 percent. NHTSA shows drivers with levels of .15 percent or higher are 200 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that of the 820 South Carolina drivers and passengers killed in accidents in 2001, 459 could have survived had they been wearing seatbelts. More than half of fatal crashes in South Carolina in 2002 were alcohol-related, according to NHTSA.

The other two laws called for by the Advocates report are child-restraint laws with no gaps and a graduated driver license passenger restriction provision. South Carolina law does not require that all children under 16 wear safety belts, and the state does not limit the number of passengers a teen-driver may transport.

Traffic accidents accounted for 1,053 deaths and cost South Carolina more than $3.3 billion in 2002, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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