DUI data put spotlight on Lexington County

Lexington County continues to lead the state in traffic fatalities and has the highest percentage of alcohol-related crashes, authorities said Wednesday.

About four out of five crashes are alcohol-related. Since January, there have been 39 deaths in 29 crashes, said S.C. Highway Patrol Capt. Leroy Taylor.

The Highway Patrol unit in charge of Lexington is using a number of strategies to combat the crashes.

Some efforts include:

• Working with law enforcement partners to set up more driver’s license safety checkpoints on the days of the week and times those crashes occurred

• Using its 12-person Fatality Reduction Operation Safety Team to conduct DUI and seat-belt enforcement operations

• Making public service announcements outlining the consequences of drinking and driving and reminding people to buckle up

“My goal is to reduce alcohol-related collisions, and maybe one day we won’t have to knock on someone’s door and tell them their relative won’t be coming home because they were killed by a drunk driver,” Taylor said.

Taylor leads Troop One, which was recognized Wednesday by Mothers Against Drunk Driving as the state’s top unit for 2007.

Last year, the troop, which covers Clarendon, Sumter, Lee, Kershaw, Richland and Lexington counties, made 2,180 DUI arrests, up 320 from the previous year.

Troopers made 665 DUI arrests in Lexington County during 2007, putting it fourth in the state for such arrests.

Taylor said he was pleased the troop received the award and was fortunate to work with such dedicated men and women.

“Our troopers understand the importance of taking that impaired driver off the road,” he said.

The percentage of fatal alcohol-related crashes in Lexington County is about twice the state average.

Statewide, about 40 percent of fatalities this year have been alcohol-related, said Phil Riley, director of the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Highway Safety.

There have been 527 traffic fatalities, which is 76 fewer than last year at this time, Riley said.

Riley praised officers who work to take impaired drivers off the road, sometimes tolerating verbal and physical abuse.

“You folks who enforce DUI laws — you all are the unsung heroes in my book,” he said.

At Wednesday’s ceremony, officials praised a DUI reform law, which takes effect Feb. 10.

It creates a tiered system tying penalties to the driver’s blood-alcohol level and prior DUI record. For instance, the higher the blood alcohol content and more prior offenses, the stiffer the punishment, said William Bilton, executive director of the S.C. Commission on Prosecution Coordination.

“It’s a comprehensive bill. It’s one that we believe will save lives and change behavior,” he said.

Carl McDonald, MADD National Law Enforcement Initiative Coordinator, who lost his 5-year-old daughter in a drunken-driving accident 10 years ago, outlined a four-point plan to end drunken driving.

The plan requires support from law enforcement, implementation of ignition interlock techniques (which can prevent drunken people from starting their cars), use of advanced technology and mobilization of grass-roots efforts.

“Let’s take our message to the bereaved who feel they have no way out ...,” he said. “Let’s tell them of our new hope: a nation without drunk driving.”

Reach Higgins at (803) 771-8570.