Memorial Day marks beginning of ‘100 deadly days of summer’ according to SCHP

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — According to Corporal Tyler Tidwell with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, Memorial Day will mark the beginning of what troopers call the “100 deadly days of summer.”

“The ‘100 deadly days of summer’ is the time frame when we typically see an increased amount of traffic fatalities, and the ‘100 deadly days of summer’ runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day,” says Tidwell.

According to the SCHP, the likelihood of an accident increases with schools out for the summer and more people traveling.

“During the 78 hour Memorial Day holiday period last year, in South Carolina, unfortunately we had 17 individuals lose their lives in vehicle related collisions,” Tidwell says.

The most common issues seen over Memorial Day Weekend include driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, distracted driving, speeding, and folks not wearing seatbelts.

“Matter of fact, last year just in the state of SC we had around 1,092 traffic fatalities and the year before that we had 1,198 traffic fatalities, and about half of the people that had access to seatbelts were not wearing them. So we just want to stress the importance of seatbelt usage,” Tidwell says.

SCHP will have checkpoints set up this weekend as well.

“There’s just so many different avenues you can take as opposed to getting behind the wheel of a vehicle and making that poor decision to drink and drive. There’s rideshare apps such as Uber and Lyft, you can call a friend, call a taxi, call a tow truck, just don’t make that poor decision,” says Tidwell.

“Drowsy drivers” are also a danger on the road, says Tidwell, who encourages people to pull over at a rest area or have another licensed driver take the wheel if you get too sleepy.

You can follow updates from the SCHP on Twitter at SCHP_Community.