Road deaths up in Lexington; more deputies out as part of Operation Southern Shield
Lexington law enforcement officials are ramping up their efforts this weekend as part of a crackdown on speeding in five Southern states. The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department announced it is watching a number of roads as part of “Operation Southern Shield.”
More deputies will be on these Lexington roadways as part of the initiative:
Brown Boulevard
Charter Oak Road
U.S. 1
S.C. 6
U.S. 378
Interstate 20
Interstate 26
Peachtree Rock Road
Platt Springs Road
Robbie Road
Law enforcement agencies from South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Alabama have come together for Operation Southern Shield. The goal is better enforcement of speed limits to reduce highway deaths.
Traffic fatalities are up this year in Lexington County, according to the sheriff’s department. Speed is the major factor in those fatalities, said Sgt. Jason Stoner in a video about Operation Southern Shield. Stoner encourages everyone to be three seconds behind any vehicle when driving.
“That gives you enough time to react,” he said, adding that more time should be allowed on higher-speed roadways.
By May 2018, there had been 34 highway fatalities in Lexington County. Preliminary results showed that 57 percent of those crashes were alcohol-related and/or drug-related. While safety belt compliance statewide is over 90 percent, many of those killed in Lexington County were not wearing a safety belt, according to a news release from the S.C. Highway Patrol and Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
“Of our fatalities that occur on roadways, 38 percent of those were caused by speed, the term ‘speed kills’ really comes into play there, “ Lance Cpl. Matt Southern of the South Carolina Highway Patrol told WJCL. “We know that if you’re exceeding the posted speed limit, you can lose control of your vehicle, you can run off the road, hit a tree. Driving the posted speed limit is the most important thing you can do.”
Saturday is the last day of Operation Southern Shield.
This story was originally published July 21, 2018 at 11:33 AM.