Drunk drivers beware

Another holiday is upon us and once again the South Carolina Highway Patrol will be out in full force to protect motorists on the roadways by clamping down on traffic violations.

This year, however, the Highway Patrol is planning something a little extra.

To help stamp out drunk driving, the Highway Patrol announced it has assembled a special task force of its most successful DUI-catching troopers to fan out across the state to patrol for inebriated drivers, particularly in Troop 4, which includes Cherokee County.

"Drunk driving has plagued this state for years," Highway Patrol Col. Kenny Lancaster Jr. said in a prepared statement about the new task force. "South Carolina consistently leads the nation in deaths caused by people getting behind the wheel drunk. We need a sustained enforcement plan to combat DUI. This newly formed team is not a temporary fix but a focused, long-term plan."

Approximately half of all highway deaths in South Carolina are attributed to driving under the influence. Showing that South Carolina has a problem, the nationwide average of DUI-related traffic fatalities is 32 percent, according to the Highway Patrol.

The local Highway Patrol traditionally ramps up patrol efforts around holidays, which tend to combine heavier than normal traffic volume with celebrations.

Lance Cpl. Jeff Gaskin said Post A of Troop 4, which covers Cherokee and Union counties, investigated 27 collisions during last year's Fourth of July holiday period that ran from Friday, July 4, to Sunday, July 6.

Two of those crashes were alcohol-related, Gaskin said, but fortunately there were no fatalities.

Drivers who apparently didn't know police would be out in full force last year learned the hard way. During last year's Fourth of July period, local troopers wrote 732 tickets, issued 123 warnings and made 11 arrests for DUI. About half of all the tickets were for seat belt violations, which is a primary offense in South Carolina that can lead to a traffic stop.