Southeastern States cracking down on Speeding

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces that it will join five Southeastern states for Operation Southern Shield, which is an effort to reduce speed-related deaths and collisions on the roadways. The campaign began July 15, and runs through July 23. The states participating include South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee, which comprise the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Region 4. Operation Southern Shield, in its second year, is a mobilization effort focusing on proactive enforcement of speeding, along with distracted driving, failure to buckle up, and driving under the influence. NHTSA Region 4 developed Operation Southern Shield in 2017. The campaign focuses on the heavy summer travel period when the rate of fatal and injury crashes within the Southeastern United States is higher than any other time of the year. In 2017, there were 45,156 speed-related collisions on South Carolina roadways, and nearly 38% of all fatal roadway collisions in South Carolina were speed-related. During the 2017 week of enforcement, July 17-23, 16 people died on South Carolina roads, compared to 21 during a comparable week in 2016. There was also a reduction in speed-related fatalities, from nine to six, during the same period. So far this year, 507 people have died on South Carolina roads, compared to 556 last year. Operation Southern Shield is part of SCDPS’ Target Zero campaign to reduce fatalities and collisions on South Carolina’s roadways.