Leroy Smith, director of the S.C. Department of Public Safety, discusses the South Carolina Department of Public Safety in this week’s Notes. Smith oversees South Carolina’s largest law enforcement agency which includes the S.C. Highway Patrol, State Transport Police, Bureau of Protective Services, Office of Highway Safety and Justice Programs, the Immigration Enforcement Unit and the Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame.
The S.C. Department of Public Safety recognizes law enforcement officers and agencies for their efforts in 2015-16 to enforce the state’s DUI laws and remove impaired drivers from South Carolina roadways.
South Carolina law enforcement and their offices recognize the importance of enforcing DUI laws in South Carolina. Their effort to combat DUI and save lives does not go unnoticed. DUI remains one of the top causes of traffic deaths. But I am encouraged because South Carolina dropped from No. 1 to No. 7 in the country with regard to the percentage of fatalities that involved an alcohol impaired driver in 2015.
We can attribute this success to a number of efforts, including education and work of our law enforcement officers. Through stepped up enforcement and partnerships, like those exhibited through the Law Enforcement Networks, we are making a difference in the number of people drunk drivers injure or kill on our roads.
This is progress, but it’s not where we need to be. Our goal everyday should be zero fatalities. That is why Department of Public Safety has launched a new strategic highway safety plan called Target Zero.
Target Zero is a radical approach to the issue of traffic fatalities in South Carolina. We must start each day with the belief that we can end the day with zero fatalities in each local community, each Highway Patrol Troop and each STP District. It’s a noble goal — one we must strive for one day at a time, one life at a time.
Target Zero approach is basic and relies on three main components — rigorous law enforcement, consistent education/outreach efforts, and the public’s involvement. These are the necessary elements to help drive down all traffic fatalities in the state — and especially DUI. DUI fatalities are completely avoidable.
The law enforcement community in South Carolina is up to the challenge. Last year reporting agencies showed around 26,000 DUI arrests statewide. That’s why the agencies that make up the Law Enforcement Network are the backbone of SC DUI efforts.
The Safety Problem:
Wrecks kill more than 30,000 people in the United States each year. Causes for driving fatalities in South Carolina include DUI, driving too fast for conditions and unrestrained seat belt.
South Carolina’s safety belt rate now stands 85.4 percent. However, each year, over half of those who die in wrecks in South Carolina (and had the opportunity to buckle up) are unrestrained. Wearing a safety belt is a driver or passenger’s number one defense against being injured or killed if involved in a wreck.
Texting and driving is defined as distracted driving. There are three main types of distraction: visual, which is taking your eyes off the road; manual, which is taking your hands off the wheel; and cognitive, which is taking your mind off what you are doing.
Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of wrecking. While all distractions can endanger drivers’ safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction. Thirty states and Washington, D.C., ban text messaging for all drivers.
The Department of Public Safety realizes that without the cooperation of local agencies, without chiefs and sheriffs across this state partnering with us every day of the year, our highway safety efforts would not be as effective, and we would not have achieved the reductions we have so far.
The Law Enforcement Network is designed to bring about positive change in traffic enforcement, and I am encouraged that our hard working law enforcement leaders feel the same way.