02-04-2025
South Carolina deputies partner up in ‘Traffic Enforcement Blitz' to cut down on accidents
ROCK HILL, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – The South Carolina State Highway Patrol, along with York and Chester County deputies, is teaming up to crack down on reckless driving this month – calling it a 'Traffic Enforcement Blitz'. This will happen along Highway 72, which runs through both counties.
At a news conference Tuesday, police said it's because this is a two-lane road that had 96 accidents in 2024 – and police said that's too much. Police report that 80 of the accidents happened on sunny days and were the result of speed and distractions.
Police said these numbers are typical now for the area.
'I have lived and grown up in this county most of my life and just amongst my family we've called this I-72 because it is as dangerous as I-77,' Max Dorsey, Chester County Sheriff said.
Speeders are the biggest concern of people who live along Highway 72 or Saluda Road.
William Brown, Jr. lives down the street from Passmore's Grocery on the road. He calls it the Indy 500.
'Traffic is ridiculous, but the speeders, oohh,' Brown, Jr. said. 'You don't back out on that road. Between four and six, it's ridiculous.'
Jim Holley is a retired police officer and medic. He's driven this thoroughfare to and from Rock Hill all his life and said it's dangerous.
'People have got to be safety conscious,' Holley said. 'They have an attitude that things are going to happen to someone else instead of them, but if you're not careful, you'll be the victim.'
Police said fatal crashes statewide had been trending up the last few years, but in 2024, that number dropped by nine percent.
'We're committed to do our part to reduce that number as much as we humanly can,' Dorsey said. 'We have a significant speeding problem out here. It's just reckless behavior.'
For years, it was on highway patrol to handle traffic safety – that's not the case starting Tuesday.
'We are partnering together, and as far as we're concerned, there is no county line,' Dorsey said.
Holley said he's happy police plan to crack down more on this road – but that it should not be necessary.
'It makes me feel safer, but the patrol and police officers doing all they can do,' Holley said. 'If the people would slow down, they wouldn't even need the police officers.'
The Traffic Enforcement Blitz will last all this month. Police plan to see if it helped to cut down on the number of accidents along the road, then reassess the next steps following this blitz.
We're told about 5,000 to 6,000 drivers use this road each day.
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