Save Lives by Voting YES to Bill H.4770

To Our South Carolina Legislators,

Vote YES to Save Lives

Bill H.4770 is now in the Judiciary Committee. This bill would allow municipalities to use Automated Road Safety Technology (ARST) to assist law enforcement in citing drivers who speed and run red lights.

Citizens for Safe Streets, a non-profit with the goal of reducing deaths and injuries on South Carolina roads, urges you to support this bill for the following reasons:

·      South Carolina consistently ranks among the worst in the nation for traffic deaths, many of which are preventable.

·      91.6% of all primary contributing factors were driver related (2023 Fact Book). Driving behavior in our state needs to change.

·      The economic loss from traffic collisions in S.C. was $5.38 billion (2023 Fact Book).

·      Car fatalities for children in S.C. are significantly higher than the national average (5.5% compared to 3.3%)

·      Cameras need not be an invasion of privacy when only the rear license plate is photographed. Photographs are taken only when a law is broken. Law abiding citizens do not have their licenses photographed.

·      Legislation can be crafted in such a way that revenue from photographic evidence must be used in ways the legislature deems best, such as for traffic calming measures.

·      Photographic evidence is already used on school buses and toll roads.

·      Citations can be more equitable than tickets given directly to the driver by a law enforcement officer because passengers in the car are not photographed. The placement of cameras works best when data is used to select locations and residents in those locations are allowed to give input.

What YOU CITIZENS can do to make South Carolina roads safer:

  • Please contact your legislator to ask him or her to support a law allowing municipalities in our state to choose to use ARST.

  • Join the cause by donating to Citizens for Safe Streets now.

Jody Traywick