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To combat drunk driving and increase seat belt usage for drivers,
three local law enforcement agencies are coming together to form a special
traffic enforcement unit.
Lt. Mike Oliver and First Sgt. Lonnie Plyler of the
S.C. Highway Patrol, Sheriff Johnny Cauthen and Lancaster Police Chief Hugh
White met Thursday to form the Lancaster County Selective Traffic Enforcement
Unit.
So far this year, nine people have died on Lancaster County roads. Six of those
deaths can be attributed to alcohol, and seven of the dead were either not
wearing a seat belt or a motorcycle helmet when they were killed. That
averages out to a sobering statistic – one in every 29 crashes in Lancaster County results in a
fatality.
Twenty-three people died locally in traffic accidents in 2002, for an average
of one in every 44 crashes resulting in a death. On the state level, one
wreck in 130 results in a fatality.
“We’re just coming off a bad year and we’ve started another one,” Oliver
said.
Sheriff’s deputies, police officers and state troopers will work together
indefinitely with the unit until the number of deaths decreases, Cauthen
said. The officers will hold public safety checkpoints and do saturations,
which are special patrols to catch drunk drivers in the act.
“We all have to work together,” Cauthen said. “Now is the time to pool our
resources, because law enforcement has suffered the most in the state’s
budget crunch. We’re going to do everything we can to reduce the number of
accidents, especially with the proms and summer coming up.”
The selective unit will target city and county roads. City Council still has
to give its approval, but White said city officers could assist deputies and
troopers in the county as well.
“There would be some overtime, but it’s going to be worth the effort,” White
said. “You’re a lot more successful when you have a collaborative effort,
rather than doing it by yourself.”
The agencies will begin their efforts April 1.
Other efforts are being made to make Lancaster
County Roads safer. Cauthen is keeping his fingers crossed that his
department will receive a grant to start a special Traffic Enforcement Unit.
The grant will allow him to hire two more officers who will specifically work
traffic, and pay for equipment.
White said his department has applied for a grant for equipment for officers
that will help in the fight against drunk drivers. And
Healthy Lancaster, which sponsors the I Promise program for teen drivers,
hopes to receive a grant that will assist in prevention and education.
In another proactive effort, officers will be working more closely with the
schools. Troopers have already been assigned to Andrew Jackson and Indian
Land high schools, to work both in and out of the classroom.
“We’re trying to increase the seat belt usage rate,” Oliver said. “When they
don’t have a seat belt on when they get to school, they’re going to get a
ticket right there in the parking lot.”
All three agencies hope a bill that would allow officers to stop drivers if they’re not wearing a seat belt will be passed by the
state legislature this year.
“It’s passed in a committee,” Cauthen said. “They tried to pass one last year
but it met a lot of opposition when it hit the floor.”  County roads claimed
another life when a woman died in a two-car crash on McIlwain Road on Friday.
Yasmine Nerissa Mackey,
30, 896 Mark Lane, was
pronounced dead at the scene of the 6:40
a.m. crash.
Trooper A.L. Wood of the S.C. Highway Patrol said Mackey was on her way to
work at U.S. Textiles when she ran her 1995 Nissan Altima
off the right side of the road while rounding a curve just south of Sentry Road.
Mackey overcorrected, spun over the center line and
was struck on the driver’s side by a 1998 Chevrolet pickup driven by Robert
D. Drakeford, 52, 4707 Beaver Creek Road, Heath Springs.
She was not wearing a seat belt.
Wood said Drakeford, who was on his way to work at Springs Industries, may
have suffered some broken bones, but his injuries were not life- threatening.
He was taken to Springs Memorial Hospital. Wood said
Drakeford was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.
The collision remains under investigation by the Highway Patrol. Troopers
were still trying to determine Mackey’s speed at the time of the crash
Friday. A light rain was falling at the time, but the Highway Patrol was
still unsure whether wet pavement was a factor in the wreck. Drugs and
alcohol do not appear to be factors, Wood said.
No charges were expected to be filed against
Drakeford.
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