As Chester Co. traffic deaths pass 2015 total, authorities brace for holiday travel season

As the days tick down until Christmas and the new year, Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker can’t help but focus on a number that keeps ticking up.

It’s the number of people killed on Chester County roadways this year, which as of Monday was 17, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety. There were 16 traffic fatalities countywide in all of 2015.

With two months left in 2016 – including the busiest travel holiday of the year – Tinker knows he’ll likely be knocking on someone’s door this holiday season to explain that their loved one won’t be coming home.

“It always happens during the holiday season,” he said of deadly traffic crashes. “I hope I’m wrong.”

At this time time last year, Chester County had 15 traffic deaths, according to state numbers. That was up from eight traffic fatalities at the same time in 2014. The county had nine fatalities at the same time in 2013.

The new numbers followed a deadly weekend in October during which four people died in two separate crashes in Chester County.

Nearby, York County saw 18 traffic fatalities in all of 2015. So far this year, 31 people have died on York County roadways, including a 55-year-old York woman who was killed Saturday in a head-on crash near Clover.

Statewide, South Carolina is slightly ahead of the number of traffic deaths last year. As of Monday, 820 people had died in crashes compared to 819 at the same time last year, according to state figures.

“If we can’t do something as a state, we’re going to break 1,000,” said Lance Cpl. Gary Miller of the S.C. Highway Patrol.

Many of the crashes remain under investigation. Miller says it’s not possible to pinpoint a single issue that causes fatalities to rise, and that it’s likely a variety of factors.

“One of the main things going on, you’ve got so many more people on the roads commuting,” he said, noting that Interstate 77 between Columbia and Charlotte is a major commuter belt. “The more people on the roads, the greater the chances for traffic collisions.”

The S.C. Highway Patrol has put more troopers on the roads during the last year and currently sits at around 835 officers, Miller said. They’ve responded to 87 more wrecks in Chester County this year compared to the same time last year, and written about 900 more citations during the same time period.

“The enforcement has been there,” he said, adding that individual drivers have to do their part to cut down on traffic deaths by buckling up, paying attention, obeying speed limits and keeping a safe following distance.

Of the 528 people killed in motor vehicles in South Carolina this year, about half weren’t wearing seat belts, according to officials.

“People get too complacent,” Miller said. “They get too comfortable doing the same thing every day and they let their guard down for just that one second.”

Tinker said speed and inattention are common factors in many of the fatal crashes he investigates, including September’s six-vehicle crash on I-77 where two people were killed and a dozen others were injured.

“The speed limit out there is 70, but the going rate right now is 80 or 85 mph,” he said. “If you do the speed limit, you’re gonna be the only one going 70 mph.”

Figures and news stories drive home the point for people, he said, but it’s only temporary.

“Even when a kid gets killed in traffic,” he said, “it’s going to affect them for a week or two. And then they’ll be right back to their old habits.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 10:47 PM with the headline "As Chester Co. traffic deaths pass 2015 total, authorities brace for holiday travel season."