The Anderson Independent was reporting "Traffic Deaths Down in South Carolina for First Half Year":
- the state had 439 traffic deaths for mid year 2009;
- a decline from 492 during in the same period in 2008; and
- an even stronger decline from the 553 in the first half of 2007.
However, there were 11 traffic related deaths in the state of South Carolina during the Fourth of July Holiday weekend. As far as Upstate South Carolina is concerned, those traffic deaths have included:
- 19 in Anderson County;
- 11 in Pickens County;
- 7 in Oconee County; and
- 2 in Abbeville County.
South Carolina Highway Patrol considered these declines in traffic fatalities to be in strong part due to seat belt use and sobriety enforcement being at an all-time high in the state.
I encourage everyone to wear your seat belts and don’t drink and drive! Let’s keep these numbers dropping every year.
As Tim Morgan, a spokesman for the Pickens County Sheriff’s Department, said in regards to traffic fatalities:
“If you have one, if it is your family member, that is one way too many. We don’t wait to look at numbers. We get involved.”