COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Gov. Mark Sanford said Monday
that the state Highway Patrol will send more troopers to Beaufort and
Colleton counties as it tries to reduce accidents on a deadly stretch of
U.S. Highway 17.
This year alone, six people have died on the heavily traveled road.
Accidents from June 23 to 25 left four dead and at least eight injured
and brought renewed attention to widening the road that connects
Charleston to Beaufort and Interstate 95.
Since 1997, at least 33 people have died along the mostly two-lane
stretch of highway from northern Beaufort County through Colleton County
to the bridge over the Edisto River.
Highway Patrol Col. Russell Roark, the patrol's commander, said six
motorcycle units that usually patrol the Upstate will be moved
temporarily to the area.
The problem area begins around Gardens Corner, where the four-lane
highway turns into two lanes, Roark said.
The Highway Patrol will review the data from the stepped-up
enforcement after three weeks and decide what is needed in the future.
Highways in that area of the state are often laden with road-weary
tourists and other drivers, said Jim Schweitzer, director of the state
Public Safety Department.
They are often "tired and in a hurry to reach their vacation
destinations. We are finding many collisions resulting from vehicles
turning left directly into the path of oncoming traffic."
Roark said driver inattention and failure to wear seat belts remain
leading causes of highway deaths in the state.
