More people are dying on South Carolina's highways than ever before, but the number of Highway Patrolmen is dropping.

It is time for the Legislature to do something about those illogical numbers.

David M. Lattimer III, president of the South Carolina Troopers Association, wrote an opinion piece on Saturday in which he gave the above statistics, plus many more that were equally as startling.

He points out that the House of Representatives is trying to address some state trooper inequities in its current budget plan, but that "cuts to the budget have left the patrol in a $5 million deficit."

State troopers are paid less than patrolmen in other states, and in some cases less than county and city policemen in South Carolina. That pay discrepancy has led many troopers to leave for better-paying jobs with local agencies. The state trooper force was once more than 1,000; now it is just over 700.

The number of highway deaths in South Carolina is climbing - 969 in 2003, 1,046 in 2004 - and so should be the number of state troopers.

Increasing the number of troopers isn't a cure-all. We saw that on Friday, when a man died on the Interstate 95 "crash corridor" in Hardeeville, even though the city was in the middle of its "St. Patrick's Special" - a three-day traffic patrol saturation involving 110 officers from 22 departments.

But the number of patrolmen on the road certainly has an impact on death totals. It would be illogical to think otherwise. People slow down and pay attention when they see patrolmen; therefore, the more patrolmen on the state's highways, the slower traffic will flow and the safer our state's citizens will be.

State troopers have a dangerous job to do. They should be paid accordingly and there should be enough of them to do the job correctly.

Like Lattimer said Saturday: Making those things happen is the state Legislature's job.