South Carolina
SHSP Key Components
Emphasis Areas
- Develop a statewide Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan
- Consider bicyclist facilities
- Improve bicyclist safety awareness and behavior
- Coordinate with local stakeholders to reduce the number and severity of bicycle-involved collisions
- Increase enforcement of laws pertaining to bicyclists
Education
Educate planners, engineers, and law enforcement on the development of the state’s first Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan and the strategies and countermeasures contained therein.
Use the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan to create awareness of increasing bicyclist-involved fatalities and injuries and the importance of pedestrian safety on the transportation network.
Increase bicycle and rider conspicuity through active lights, reflectors, and retroreflective clothing.
Expand bicycle safety education for children and adults and promote Safe Route to School programs.
Expand educational campaign focusing on bicyclist skill education, safety-related training, helmet use, etc.
Educate officers on bicycle-related traffic laws.
Engineering
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider inclusion of bicycle accommodations during the project development process based on safety and mobility.
Utilize SCDOT traffic calming guideline as requests are received by local governments to study requests to reduce motor vehicle speeds on low volume routes.
While developing traffic safety projects specific to non-motorized safety, study the need to improve pavement markings, driveway access, or other access management strategies, based on collision analysis, to improve bicycle safety.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Provide statistical analysis and assistance to MPO’s/COG’s that request it with the goal of improving non-motorized safety.
Encourage the continued use of School Audits performed by DHEC and other community stakeholders.
- Research the distracted driving problem in the state
- Improve the collection and reporting of distracted driving in collisions
- Reduce the likelihood of vehicles leaving the travel lane(s) at high-collision/risk locations by improving the roadway
- Enhance driver awareness of the risks of distracted driving
- Strengthen enforcement
Enforcement/Adjudication
To ensure effective law enforcement, explore options/methods to assess cell phone and texting offenses while driving.
Expand high-visibility text messaging enforcement.
Enhance enforcement of commercial motor vehicle hours of service regulation provided by FMCSA, to identify high-risk carriers and drivers.
Education
Provide training to officers to classify distracted driving collisions.
Conduct extensive education and enforcement campaign focused on distracted driving.
Encourage employers to develop education program or fatigue management programs for employees working nighttime or rotating shifts.
Engineering
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider deployment of centerline and edge line rumble strips based on Roadway Design Manual (RDM) and engineering directives.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider use of safety edge (i.e., pavement edge taper) as well as opportunities to provide additional recovery area for vehicles that leave the roadway.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, review crash data to consider expansion of existing roadway delineation and visibility features, which include geometric alignment, pavement markings, raised markers, signs, and other devices.
Promote in-vehicle technologies such as lane departure warning, collision-imminent braking, forward collision warning, etc. to deter driver distraction or drowsiness.
- Enforce or research additional laws that prohibit or greatly penalize driving while impaired offenses
- Increase the number of high visibility Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Programs
- Minimize the risks of fatalities and serious injuries related to impaired driver collisions
- Maintain the existence of the Impaired Driving Prevention Council (IDPC)
- Enhance prosecutor, judicial, and law enforcement training programs
- Conduct impaired driving education and community outreach programs
- Discourage Underage Drinking
- Reduce drugged driving
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Continue administration of license suspension laws that allow driver's license authorities to suspend a driver’s license if the driver fails or refuses to take a BAC test.
Study neighboring states successes in addressing with impaired drivers.
Research the benefits from neighboring states that have lower BAC limits for repeat offenders.
Research the use of portable breath test devices to help establish probable cause for DUI arrest.
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider implementing roadway departure countermeasures.
Continue active participation in the Impaired Driving Prevention Council (IDPC).
Review and implement, when possible, the recommendations from the most recent Impaired Driving Assessment and refer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Countermeasures That Work document for policy related strategies.
Implement the most recent Impaired Driving Prevention Council (IDPC)-approved State Impaired Driving Plan.
Continue supporting the Traffic Resource Prosecutor Program.
Support the state’s Judicial Outreach Liaison Program.
Enact court monitoring programs where citizens observe, track, and report on DUI court or administrative hearing activities to compare how results differ from judges and courts.
Conduct alcohol screenings or brief interventions at emergency rooms, college campuses, or in social service settings to estimate the level and severity of alcohol use and to determine whether a person may be at risk.
Encourage alternative transportation in addition to normal public transportation during short periods of the year such as Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
Continue to support the Alcohol Enforcement Teams (AET).
Support the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) program.
Enforcement/Adjudication
Enforce open container laws that prohibit the possession of any open alcoholic beverage container and the consumption of any alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle.
Implement public safety checkpoints at predetermined locations to check whether a driver is impaired and publicize the results (e.g., social media, press releases, etc.).
Continue the use of the Target Zero Enforcement Team to focus on locations where data suggest a high rate of impaired driver-related fatal or serious injury collisions.
Conduct Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) testing and evaluation through regular traffic enforcement and crash investigations or at public safety checkpoints, in particular at night.
Enforce laws that include all forms of driver impairment (e.g., alcohol, illegal and prescription drugs).
Education
Educate officers to recognize drivers who are required to have an Ignition Interlock Device and verify device and license compliance.
Train law enforcement in the following programs: Drug Recognition Expert and Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST).
Continue to support national, regional, and state DUI public information educational campaigns such as Sober or Slammer.
Implement youth drinking-and-driving programs to motivate youth not to drink, not to drink and drive, and not to ride with a driver who has been drinking. One example is the Alive @25 program.
Educate physicians, pharmacists, and patients about the potential risk of motor vehicle collisions associated with prescription medications.
Continue to educate the Legislature on the risks to highway safety associated with legalizing marijuana in the state.
- Improve Management of Access
- Reduce Conflict through Geometric Design Improvement
- Improve Sight Distance
- Improve Driver Awareness
- Choose Appropriate Intersection Traffic Control
- Improve Compliance with Traffic Control Devices and Traffic Laws
- Reduce Operating Speeds
- Guide Motorists More Effectively
- Reduce Frequency and Severity of Intersection Conflicts Through Traffic Control and Operational Improvements
- Reduce Intersection Conflicts Through Geometric Improvements
- Improve Driver Awareness of Intersections and Signal Control
- Improve Driver Compliance with Traffic Control Devices
- Improve Safety Through Other Infrastructure Treatments
Engineering
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to implement driveway closures, relocations, or turn restrictions at unsignalized intersections with high angle collision frequencies related to driveways.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to provide left-turn lanes at unsignalized intersections with a high frequency of rear-end collisions resulting from the conflict between vehicles turning left and following vehicles and vehicles turning left and opposing through vehicles.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to provide longer left-turn lane storage at intersections where existing left-turn lanes that are not long enough to store all left-turning vehicles and have a high frequency of rear-end collisions resulting from the conflict between vehicles waiting to turn left and following vehicles.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to provide offset left-turn lanes at intersections where possible.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to use signing to restrict or eliminate turning maneuvers at unsignalized intersections with patterns of collisions related to turning maneuvers where it is impractical to reduce that pattern of collisions by improving sight distance or providing a left-turn or shoulder bypass lane.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to provide channelization or close median openings to restrict or eliminate turning maneuvers at unsignalized intersections with patterns of collisions related to turning maneuvers where sight distance cannot be improved.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to realign intersection approaches to reduce or eliminate intersection skew at unsignalized intersections with a high frequency of collisions resulting from insufficient intersection sight distance and awkward sight lines at a skewed intersection.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to improve pedestrian and bicycle facilities to reduce conflicts between motorists and non-motorists.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, utilize innovative design techniques, such as roundabouts or reduced conflict intersections, in targeted areas.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to clear sight triangles on stop- or yield-controlled approaches to intersections where feasible.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to clear sight triangles in the medians of divided highways near intersections, where feasible.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to change horizontal and/or vertical alignment of approaches to provide more sight distance, where feasible.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to eliminate parking that restricts sight distance, where feasible.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to improve visibility of intersections by providing enhanced signing and delineation at unsignalized intersections that are not clearly visible to approaching motorists, particularly approaching motorists on the major road, where feasible.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to install larger regulatory signs and warning signs at intersections with patterns of rear-end, angle, or turning collisions related to lack of driver awareness, where feasible.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to install flashing beacons at stop-controlled intersection or unsignalized intersections with patterns of high angle collisions related to lack of driver awareness, where feasible.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider all-way stop-control at appropriate intersections with patterns of right-angle and turning collisions and moderate and relatively balanced volumes on the intersection approaches.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider roundabouts at appropriate locations, such as unsignalized intersections that are experiencing right-angle, rear-end, and turning collisions.
While developing intersection safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider inclusion of traffic calming measures based on study of crash data, posted speed limit, and existing geometry.
While developing intersection safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider turn path markings at complex unsignalized intersections with a high frequency of collisions related to turning vehicle positioning (e.g., sideswipe collisions).
While developing intersection safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider a double yellow centerline on the median opening of a divided highway at intersections experiencing a high number of side-by-side queuing and angle stopping with median area.
While developing intersection safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider lane assignment signing or marking at complex, unsignalized intersections with a high frequency of collisions caused by driver indecision in lane assignment.
While developing intersection safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider employing multiphase signal operation at signalized intersections with a high frequency of angle collisions involving left turning and opposing through vehicles.
While developing intersection safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider optimizing change intervals at signalized intersections with a high frequency of collisions related to change interval lengths that are possibly too short.
While developing intersection safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider restricting or eliminating turning maneuvers (including right turns on red).f
While developing intersection safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider employing signal coordination for signalized intersections with a high frequency of collisions related to turning maneuvers.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider removal of unwarranted signals where traffic volumes and safety records do not warrant signalization.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider providing or improving left-turn channelization at signalized intersections where collisions related to left-turn movements are an issue.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider providing or improving right-turn channelization at signalized intersections with a high frequency of rear-end collisions resulting from conflicts between: 1) vehicles turning right and following vehicles; and 2) vehicles turning right and through vehicles coming from the left on the cross street.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider improving geometry of pedestrian and bicycle facilities at signalized intersections with high frequencies of pedestrian and/or bicycle collisions and on routes serving schools or other generators of pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider revising geometry of complex signalized intersections with high levels of collisions on a leg where other low-cost strategies have not been successful or are not considered appropriate.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider improving visibility of traffic control devices at intersections on approaches by using additional heads or overhead signs with flashing signals at locations where a high frequency of right-angle and rear-end collisions occur because drivers are unable to see traffic signals and signs sufficiently in advance to safely negotiate the intersection being approached.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider installing LED heads and reflective backplates.
Provide targeted conventional enforcement of traffic laws at signalized intersections with a high frequency of collisions related to drivers either being unaware of (or refusing to obey) traffic laws and regulations that impact traffic safety.
Research the benefits and challenges of automated enforcement at signalized intersections, allowing for red-light-running cameras. Present findings to leadership for their consideration.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider providing skid resistance at intersections and on approaches where skidding is determined to be a problem, especially in wet conditions.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider coordinating closely spaced signals near at-grade railroad crossings with a high frequency of collisions.
While developing intersection traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider restricting or eliminating existing parking on intersection approaches.
Enforcement/Adjudication
Provide targeted enforcement to reduce stop sign and signal violations.
Provide targeted speed enforcement at high-speed locations.
Education
Provide targeted public information and education on safety problems at specific intersections.
Educate roadway users on the contributing factors associated with intersection collisions, complying with traffic control devices, and providing proper right-of-way to all road users.
Provide education on benefits of and instructions on traversing alternative intersection types.
- Identify mature drivers at an elevated risk
- Improve the roadway and driving environment to better accommodate mature drivers' special needs
- Improve the driving competency of mature adults in the general driving population and reduce the risk of injury and death
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Implement Model Driver Screening and Evaluation Program Guidelines for Motor Vehicle Administrators for screening and testing mature drivers’ license.
Education
Establish effective referral of mature drivers to licensing agencies by providing appropriate educational materials to law enforcement agencies and physicians.
Engineering
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, or conducting traffic safety audits, review crash data to consider need for increasing size and letter height on roadway signs.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, or signal retiming studies, consider providing more protected left-turn signal phases at high-volume intersections, where supported by collision data.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider lighting and other engineering countermeasures at intersections, horizontal curves, and railroad grade crossings where supported by collision data and feasible.
Implement systemic upgrades to reflectivity of sign sheeting for all critical roadway safety signs, such as chevrons and curve warning signs.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider replacing painted channelization with raised channelization where feasible.
Enforcement/Adjudication
Increase awareness of safety belt use for mature drivers and passengers and strictly enforce safety belt use law.
- Develop education and enforcement strategies based on top contributing factors to motorcycle-involved collisions
- Minimize the adverse consequences of leaving the roadway by improving the roadside
- Educate riders and drivers on motorcycle safety and create awareness
Enforcement/Adjudication
Expand impaired driving prevention programs (high-visibility and public safety check points, saturation patrols) to detect impaired motorcyclists.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Maintain regular meetings of the Motorcycle Safety Task Force (MSTF) to review and implement the most current SHSP strategies and other initiatives as deemed necessary by the MSTF.
Expand Motorcycle Rider Education program to ensure riders have adequate training courses and licenses to operate a motorcycle safely on road.
Education
Identify and promote methods of motorcycle rider conspicuity such as daytime headlights.
Expand educational campaign to promote helmet use and motorcycle safety.
Raise motorcycle safety awareness by sharing safety messages utilizing digital message signs, social media, posters, flyers at transportation events, etc.
Enhance awareness of the consequences of aggressive riding, riding while fatigued or impaired, unsafe riding, and poor traffic strategies.
Engineering
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, in a context-sensitive manner, consider including clear zones in conjunction with the SCDOT Roadside Design Manual (RDM) which may include removing, relocating, shielding, or delineating trees or other fixed objects when feasible.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider providing full paved shoulders where limited recovery area currently exists and when there is a history of motorcycle crashes and where feasible.
While developing traffic management plans for construction projects, consider providing advance warning signs to alert drivers of traffic congestion and irregular roadway surfaces.
Maintain roadway surfaces through work zones to facilitate safe passage of all motorists to include motorcycles.
- Develop a statewide Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan
- Support the SCDOT Safety Office Investment Plan to perform Road Safety Audits at locations identified as having a high occurrence of pedestrian fatalities and injuries
- Consider pedestrian facilities
- Encourage age-friendly pedestrian design
- Increase pedestrian education efforts
- Increase enforcement of laws pertaining to pedestrians
Engineering
Ensure pedestrian facilities located near schools have adequate pedestrian crossing opportunities, flashing beacons, and reduced speed limits for passing vehicles; consult School Safety Audits performed by SCDHEC when available.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider adequate pedestrian design that can accommodate the aging and disabled populations (including wide sidewalks and ADA accessible infrastructure) where feasible.
Implement leading pedestrian interval (LPI) at intersections with high turning vehicle volumes to reduce pedestrian-vehicle crashes.
Education
Implement an awareness campaign emphasizing the risks to pedestrians on high-volume/speed roadways resulting from disabled vehicles, motorist assistance, crossing multilane roads, etc.
Continue pedestrian safety campaigns, which promote the use of reflective apparel among pedestrians (conspicuity enhancement).
Distribute educational brochures and maps with identified safe routes to schools.
Educate officers on pedestrian-related laws.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Encourage the continuation of School Audits performed by South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control and other community stakeholders to develop and implement elementary school pedestrian training programs.
Enforcement/Adjudication
Implement targeted enforcement campaigns for pedestrians and motorists. Coordinate special enforcement efforts on a local and district level.
- Rural Road Safety Program
- Keep Vehicles on the Roadway
- Keep Vehicles from Encroaching into Opposite Lane
- Conduct Targeted Enforcement to Reduce Frequency and Severity of Roadway Departure Collisions
- Educate Roadway Users to Understand the Contributing Factors in Roadway Departure Collisions
- Improve Emergency Response
Engineering
Continue implementation of South Carolina’s Rural Road Safety Program aimed at reducing roadway departure collisions and/or reducing the severity of those collisions by targeting the top roadways in the state with the highest occurrences of roadway departure collisions.
Deploy centerline and edge line rumble strips in accordance with SCDOT policy.
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, install enhanced pavement markings, six-inch edge line, or embedded wet-reflective wider pavement markings on sections with narrow or no paved shoulders.
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, maintain shoulders to reduce debris and edge drop-offs; use safety edge (i.e., pavement edge taper); identify opportunities to upgrade or improve shoulders to provide additional recovery area for vehicles that leave the roadway.
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, and where crash data dictates, increase road surface skid resistance using high friction surface treatments.
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, improve safety through signing at horizontal curves through inventory and assessment of curves to comply with MUTCD requirements.
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, install delineation on fixed objects that cannot be removed from the clear zone.
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, in a context sensitive manner, study the need for Clear Zone Reclamation by removing trees and brush
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, in a context sensitive manner, study the need to remove/relocate objects located in Clear Zone such as trees, utility poles or other high risk items.
Continue to maintain roadside safety hardware, and include installation of new hardware as deemed necessary when developing roadway departure mitigation safety projects.
Remove or replace existing barriers that are damaged or non-functional.
Install systemic application of guardrail on interstate system.
While developing roadway departure mitigation traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, study the need to add raised medians or other access control measures on multilane arterials.
Enforcement/Adjudication
Perform targeted enforcement with an emphasis on speed and DUI on roads with a high percentage of roadway departure collisions.
Utilize Law Enforcement Networks to conduct briefings with local law enforcement agencies on contributing factors and locations within their jurisdictions that may present a high number of collisions that result in roadway departure.
Education
Use media, community resource officers, website, etc. to increase awareness of the dynamics of roadway departure collisions to the public.
Work with partner agencies to integrate new content into the driver education curriculum and the driver manual.
Raise awareness about the dynamics of texting and other distractions by sharing effective messages with all safety partners.
Incident Management/EMS
Improve emergency response time to rural locations.
Work with state and local fire, EMS, law enforcement, and incident response personnel to identify opportunities for reducing secondary collisions through coordinated incident response.
- Reduce speeding through enforcement activities
- Use engineering measures to effectively manage speed
- Increase public awareness of risk of driving at unsafe speeds
- Build partnerships to increase support for speed-reducing measures
- Obtain and report uniform, timely, consistent, integrated, accurate, and complete speed data for the purposes of informing and directing speed management activities
Enforcement/Adjudication
Conduct high-visibility speed enforcement efforts at locations where speed-related collisions are over-represented.
Ensure that law enforcement officers have appropriate equipment for conducting speed enforcement.
Continue the use of the Target Zero Enforcement Team to focus on locations where data suggest a high rate of speed-related fatal or serious injury collisions.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Research the benefits and challenges of automated speed enforcement as an effective countermeasure, and present findings to leadership for their consideration.
Continue participation in the annual NHTSA Region 4 speeding campaign, Southern Shield.
Present the visual statistics to public and elected officials to gain support in prioritizing safety improvement funding.
Engineering
Set speed limits which account for roadway design, traffic, and environment, including traffic volume, modal mixed-use, and local and regional function.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider inclusion of traffic calming measures based on study of crash data, posted speed limit, and existing geometry to influence driver speed.
Design and maintain speed limit signs and ensure that warning signs are installed at appropriate intervals with adequate sight distance.
Implement timed and coordinated traffic signals with adequate clearance intervals to improve traffic flow, reduce red-light running, and manage speeds.
Set consistent speed limits based on existing operation, considering road design, traffic flows, traffic mix, and other environmental factors.
While developing traffic safety projects or other projects through the Feasibility Report process, consider combination of geometric elements to control speed at horizontal curves (high friction surface treatment), enhance delineation (chevron sign) of curve alerts, and include roadside design improvements (guardrail, cable/concrete barrier).
Conduct Road Safety Audits to identify roadway characteristics and roadways designs for speed-related safety improvements.
Education
Increase awareness through extensive communication campaign (using various forms of media strategies) and driver education programs concerning risks of driving at unsafe speeds.
Increase public awareness of potential penalties for speeding.
Provide clear, instructive training to law enforcement on identifying speed-related collision and recording them appropriately on the state’s crash report.
Data
Create an inventory of existing speed data and identify data gaps to obtain a complete dataset.
Ensure that transportation and safety partners have access to the data to help determine data-driven solutions.
- Increase Seat Belt Law Enforcement
- Educate Public Regarding Seat Belt Law Enforcement
- Improve child occupant protection through education, outreach, and enforcement
Enforcement/Adjudication
Use checkpoints and saturation patrols to conduct intense high visibility enforcement over a period of time.
Conduct short-term high visibility seat belt law enforcement during the nighttime.
Enforce seat belt law as part of customary traffic enforcement activities.
Continue the use of the Target Zero Enforcement Team to focus on locations where data suggest a high rate of unbelted-related fatal or serious injury collisions.
Use variable message boards and signs during stepped-up occupant protection enforcement campaigns (e.g., Buckle Up South Carolina).
Use paid advertising to continue high-visibility seat belt enforcement campaigns, such as Buckle Up South Carolina.
Continue to enforce child restraint laws and publicize during statewide occupant protection campaigns, such as Buckle Up South Carolina and Child Passenger Safety Week.
Education
Identify high-risk population groups or vehicle types to develop an educational campaign about the risks of not wearing safety belts.
Conduct educational activities in support of Child Passenger Safety Week and at other times during the year when there is an increased emphasis on the importance of child restraint systems.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Continue to provide community locations for instruction in proper child restraint use, including both public safety agencies and health care providers.
Increase the number of child passenger safety fitting stations and certified technicians. Publicize child restraint inspection events statewide.
- Reduce the severity of work zone-related collisions
- Improve data collection quality and perform possible revisions to the collision report form
- Reduce the duration and impact of work zones
- Improve work zone traffic control devices
- Improve work zone design practices
- Improve driver compliance with work zone traffic controls
- Provide public education and information on work zone safety to increase knowledge and awareness of work zones
- Develop procedures to effectively manage work zones
- Increase likelihood of survival
Engineering
Review work zone fatal and serious injury collisions to identify areas for engineering improvements.
Use agency prescribed engineering directives to guide decisions of whether construction work should be performed at night due to traffic volumes.
Implement Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) strategies to improve safety.
Utilize work zone design guidance to improve work zone safety on a project by project basis.
When developing staging plans for projects, consider measures to reduce work space intrusions (and limit consequences of intrusions) such as physical barriers or positive protection (devices that contain and redirect vehicles preventing them from intruding into the work space).f
Consider all modes of travel (including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and heavy-truck drivers) when establishing work zone design plans; perform routine inspection of conditions to ensure safe accommodations.
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Continue the Safety Improvement Team (SIT) program.
During project development, study opportunities to accelerate construction and maintenance activities where possible, schedule highway work to avoid periods of high traffic volumes, and provide adequate space for future road work in new project development.
During project development, consider full-time roadway closures for construction operations to separate motoring public from work zones.
During project development, consider including contract provisions such as no excuse incentives as a method of expediting construction.
Continue to perform routine work zone night reviews, continue to improve visibility of SCDOT work zone personnel and equipment, and study neighboring states successes in improving visibility of work zone personnel and vehicles.
When practicable, coordinate schedules of multiple projects on the same section of roadway to minimize impacts; coordination among different DOT divisions (maintenance, construction, design, traffic, safety) and emergency responders.
Research the use of incentives or awareness programs to encourage work zone personnel to strive for safe work zones.
Education
Provide training to Law Enforcement on work zone safety and laws.
Provide training to Law Enforcement on completing the collision report form (TR-310), properly identifying work zone locations and activity areas.
Increase driver awareness of flagger presence by use of advanced warning signs, flashing stop/slow paddles, and high visibility apparel to reduce flaggers' exposure to traffic.
Develop and implement public information campaigns for work zone safety, to include honoring those workers who have lost their lives in work zone-related collisions.
Disseminate work zone safety information to road users.
Provide work zone training programs and manuals for designers and field staff.
Enforcement/Adjudication
Enhance enforcement of traffic laws in work zones.
Improve application of increased driver penalties in work zones.
Data
Develop or enhance agency-level work zone collision data systems.
- Implement and enforce Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL) Programs and Laws
- Continue to educate roadway users and create awareness of young driver risks and consequences
- Reduce collisions along routes used by young drivers to get to school
Legislative/Policy/Programmatic
Enforce and implement programs that help identify teen drivers operating outside of the night curfew and increase effectiveness of the current nighttime restriction rules.
Continue to support young driver safety initiatives such as the Alive @ 25 safety driver program.
Facilitate partnerships between law enforcement and middle and high schools statewide to create awareness events regarding young driver risk behavior and consequences.
Encourage all public high schools to support the Alive @ 25 initiative.
Continue to implement a program to reduce roadway departure and intersection collisions along identified corridors.
Enforcement/Adjudication
Enforce GDL and Zero tolerance laws.
Education
Increase young driver education in rural areas through school and church outreach campaigns.
Educate parents and young drivers on the impact of risky driver behaviors, including driving under the influence and using a cell phone while operating a vehicle.
Educate and enforce laws pertaining to underage drinking and driving.
Support/create young driver social media campaigns regarding risky behavior on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat to engage the younger populations.
Display statistics and young driver collision data along highway signs and billboards to promote awareness.