Obey traffic laws for a safer trip

May 24, 2005

We're about to enter into what the South Carolina Department of Public Safety calls the 100 Deadliest Days of Summer, Memorial Day through Labor Day. The children are out of school, adults are taking vacation from work, and that means more people on the road, those of us fortunate enough to live here and those intelligent enough to visit our state.

And more people on the road, despite the high cost of gasoline, means more of an opportunity for an accident, especially if we don't obey the traffic laws and neglect to drive defensively.

In states that have primary seat belt laws, including North Carolina and Georgia, Monday also began "Click It or Ticket," a program that runs through June 5 and will have law enforcement concentrating on enforcing seat belt laws. In South Carolina, where we have seat belt laws but currently no primary enforcement law, officers cannot ticket a driver solely for being unrestrained, unless the offender or passengers are 17 or younger. Thus May 23 through June 5 is called "Buckle Up, South Carolina" to encourage this common-sense way to travel more safely.

Seat belt usage isn't the only thing officers will be looking for to combat traffic incidents in our state. There will also be increased patrols, especially in those areas that have seen the most accidents in recent years, to ensure adherence to laws many of us may have carelessly broken at one time or another; speeding, following too closely, disregarding a traffic signal or stop sign, failure to yield the right of way. We were lucky. Hundreds more weren't.

While much of what would be termed "driving while distracted" isn't strictly against the law, most of those activities, including eating, cell phone usage and changing the radio, the CD player or the tape player, contribute to accidents. It's safer to pull over unless the call is of an emergency nature and changing the CD can wait, as can that hot package of fries on the front seat.

Law enforcement will also be watching for drivers who don't have enough sense not to drink and drive. There's little more we can say about this, other than citing MADD statistics that claim about half of the fatalities in our state are alcohol-related.

In 2003, the last year for which numbers are available, there were 6,384 collisions on South Carolina roads between May 17 and June 6, according to the SCDPS. Sixty people died, another 3,110 were injured - and thousands of other lives, those of family members, friends, co-workers and classmates, will never be the same.

So be careful in the weeks to come, not just because law enforcement will be on increased patrols but because obeying traffic laws and wearing seat belts are simply smart things to do.

And if you are stopped, for speeding, for drinking and driving, for violating any of the other traffic laws on our books, don't get mad.

Say thanks.

That officer may have just saved your life or the life or someone you love. Getting a ticket is a small price to pay for such a gift.

Copyright 2005, Anderson Independent Mail. All Rights Reserved.