Berkeley Co. on Highway Patrol's radar this weekend
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters called South Carolina's new DUI law passed this spring "one of the strictest in the country" during a visit to Charleston on Thursday.
But with the second-worst rate of alcohol-related crashes in the country, Peters said the Palmetto State has a long road ahead. She made the comments at Charleston's Brittlebank Park alongside city and state officials to drive home a safety message ahead of the long holiday weekend.
"It will help you move out of the No. 2 spot," she said of the law. "Nearly one half of the (traffic) deaths in South Carolina are alcohol-related."
In 2006, 13,000 people died in alcohol-related crashes nationwide, 39 percent of the total, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation. In South Carolina that year, 420 of the state's more than 1,000 crashes involved alcohol.
The new drunk driving law that Gov. Mark Sanford signed in April eliminates defense loopholes used in the past, according a release from the Governor's Office. The law strengthens penalties and removes community service as a sentencing option for second and subsequent offenses. It also introduces a tiered penalty system for offenders who are highly intoxicated.
Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.
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Comments
ForPnC (anonymous) says...
I hope law enforcement catches them all!
It's all well and good when the police arrest these creeps. Once they hit the judicial system is when the rest of us get screwed.
Maybe we can start charging drunk drivers with premeditated murder instead?
July 3, 2008 at 5:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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