Cops Step Up Summer Patrols

More traffic hits the road this weekend, and police won't be far behind.

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety is reminding motorists that this weekend begins one of the most heavily travelled periods on South Carolina's highways. And so begins the "100 Deadly Days of Summer" because the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day can be a time when fatalities start to rise due to heavy vacation and out-of-state travel, and the influx of motorcycle traffic due to Bike Weeks.

Fatalities are currently 91 behind last year at this time, and law enforcement wants to keep it that way.

"Our goal right now is to achieve Target Zero traffic deaths by approaching traffic safety from every angle," said SCDPS Director Leroy Smith. "We have had a promising start to the year and we want to see that trend continue through the busy summer travel months, but that means we cannot get complacent."

Troopers will saturate the roads, working closely with State Transport Police and local officers, over the 102-hour travel holiday, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday night and ends at midnight Monday. Law enforcement will hold public safety checkpoints, use radar to detect speed violations and will be placing a heavy concentration on nighttime safety belt enforcement.

SCDPS kicked off its Buckle Up SC campaign last week emphasizing nighttime safety belt use -- when the risk of being involved in a fatal collision goes up. Statistics show that fatalities increase at night while safety belt use drops among that group. Preliminary statistics for 2008-2012 show 64 percent of motorists killed at night were unbuckled at the time of the crash compared to 45 percent who were unrestrained and killed during daytime crashes. 

DPS has launched TV and radio advertisements focusing on safety belts and DUI. The agency has also begun the LOOK campaign focusing on reducing deaths related to motorcyclists, mopeds and pedestrians.

"Troopers will be placing a special emphasis on DUI, safety belt and speed enforcement during Memorial Day," said Col. Mike Oliver. "Again, so much of our success depends on motorists and passengers taking personal responsibility for their behavior in the vehicle."

Breakdown of Memorial Day fatalities for past two years:

2012 : Friday, May 25 at 6 p.m. through Monday, May 28, at midnight
8 fatalities as a result of 8 fatal crashes
3 motor vehicles, 4 motorcycles and 1 pedestrian
1 motorcyclist was wearing helmet. No restraint/helmet usage recorded for other 7 fatalities (pedestrian N/A)

2011: Friday, May 27 at 6 p.m. through Monday, May 30, at midnight
8 fatalities as a result of 7 fatal crashes
5 motor vehicle, 2 motorcycles and 1 pedestrian
No restraint/helmet usage recorded for any of the fatalities (pedestrian N/A)