SC troopers to increase patrols during busy Thanksgiving travel period

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Law enforcement is working to ensure everyone travels safely this Thanksgiving holiday.

Troopers with the South Carolina Highway Patrol said Thanksgiving week is one of the busier travel weeks as people head to visit friends and family.

SC Highway Patrol will begin intense Thanksgiving traffic enforcement to make sure everyone is carefully following the rules of the road.

“There’s going to be traffic Wednesday and Sunday,” said Lance Cpl. Nick Pye with the South Carolina Highway Patrol. “Historically those have been some of the heavier traffic times throughout the year.”

He said it’s important to survey your vehicle before you hit the road.

“Make sure the tire tread on your vehicle is in good shape, lights are working, blinkers working as well as make sure you have a full tank of gas. You know, it’s surprising sometimes how many people run out of gas on our interstates,” he said.

Once you hit the road, think about ways you can stay safe.

“These collisions that we have happen on a daily basis are caused by three things and three things only: distracted driving, driving under the influence, and not driving the posted speed limit,” said Trooper Pye.

He went on to say, “We also ask that you always wear your seatbelt and that you know out of the fatal crashes that we have every year, if you look at all the people who had access to seatbelts, only about 50% of those individuals wore their seatbelts.”

They do not want you to become a statistic when it comes to deadly crashes during the holiday travel period.

“If you’ve walked in my shoes before and you’ve gone and knocked on some doors to tell people that, you know, it changes the way you look at things and a lot of people think that it can’t happen to them, but it can,” he said.

Trooper Pye said driving is the most dangerous thing a person will do on a daily basis. “Until we start realizing that- we are unfortunately going to keep having collisions,” said Pye.

South Carolina Highway Patrol said drivers should expect to see more troopers on the road since it’s an ‘all hands on deck’ scenario through Sunday.