The Highway Patrol will meet with the public at St. Anthony's Catholic Church at 7 tonight on S.C. Highway 63 in Walterboro.

Radar and citations are the obvious tools at a state trooper's disposal. But lately, the South Carolina Highway Patrol has been trying a new approach: public town-hall-style meetings in areas with a high number of traffic deaths.

The next meeting is tonight in Walterboro. A dangerous section of U.S. Highway 17 in Beaufort and Colleton counties will be among the topics. There also will be a special attempt to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community.

The forums began in Jasper County in early May, shortly after a horrific April 30 wreck on Highway 170 Alternate that killed six people. The community meeting following the crash drew several dozen people.

Others have followed in Eastover, Newberry and Moncks Corner.

"We decided to call the first town hall to express our sadness to the community over the incident, and to present a plan of action to infiltrate the area with stepped-up enforcement and safety presentations," spokesman Lance Cpl. Paul Brouthers said in an e-mail. "The Jasper County town hall was well received by the residents and was considered a success as far as reaching out to the community."

The state Department of Public Safety reported 530 deaths on South Carolina roads in 2005 as of Monday, compared to 478 at the same point in 2004.

In the Lowcountry, problem spots have included a 22-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 17 in Colleton and Beaufort counties, where about two-dozen people have died and roughly 450 more have been injured in the past four years. During two weeks in late June and early July, wrecks on the road claimed four lives and injured at least 10 others.

Another problem spot is Berkeley County, where the 35 deaths so far this year represent more than double last year's total at this time.

To discuss the spike in fatalities there, state officials and family members of people who have died in wrecks held a public meeting in Moncks Corner earlier this month.

"The Patrol is investing a lot of time and effort into this because we feel that working with communities to get the fatality rate down will work much better than trying to accomplish this on our own," Brouthers said. "Individual responsibility on the part of drivers, along with education awareness programs, has now become a vital component of the overall strategy of collision reduction."

The town-hall format allows the Patrol to present its strategies for making the roads safer and receive immediate public feedback. Many troopers have been attending the meetings on their own time, he said.

Meetings are planned in Orangeburg and Georgetown in August.

Noah Haglund covers crime. Contact him at 937-5550 or nhaglund@postandcourier.com.To discuss the spike in fatalities there, state officials and family members of people who have died in wrecks held a public meeting in Moncks Corner earlier this month.

"The Patrol is investing a lot of time and effort into this because we feel that working with communities to get the fatality rate down will work much better than trying to accomplish this on our own," Brouthers said. "Individual responsibility on the part of drivers, along with education awareness programs, has now become a vital component of the overall strategy of collision reduction."

The town-hall format allows the Patrol to present its strategies for making the roads safer and receive immediate public feedback. Many troopers have been attending the meetings on their own time, he said.

Future meetings are planned in Orangeburg and Georgetown in August.