Operation Southern Slow Down

Each year during the 100 Deadly Days of Summer, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS) joins four other Southeastern states for “Operation Southern Slow Down” in an effort to curb excessive speeding on the highways. The weeklong speed enforcement and education campaign is a partnership between the southeastern states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

During the enforcement period, SC Highway Patrol troopers and State Transport Police Officers, along with local law enforcement partners, concentrate education and enforcement efforts on interstates and state highways in South Carolina to reduce the number of drivers traveling at speeds well above the legal limit.

Operation Safe DRIVE

Operation Safe DRIVE (Distracted, Reckless, Impaired, Visibility Enforcement) is a comprehensive program of the State Transport Police designed to address driver behavior in three areas: Outreach, Education and Enforcement. The overall goal is to create a social climate that makes unsafe, distracted and impaired driving behaviors socially unacceptable.

1. The first two parts of the program involving outreach and education are aimed at highlighting and addressing unsafe driving behaviors before they occur, therefore generating voluntary compliance by drivers.
2. The third part of the program involves enforcement, which is aimed at reducing the number of collisions in identified high crash corridors through highly visible traffic enforcement efforts. Officers will focus their enforcement efforts on Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) to monitor driver behavior, check compliance of federal regulations and enforce South Carolina laws to ensure safety in and around CMVs throughout the identified areas.

The State Transport Police conducts SafeDRIVE enforcement specials on Interstates 20, 26, 77, 85 and 95 several times each year. These enforcement specials are conducted in partnership with other local, state and federal agencies along shared corridors. During these enforcement efforts, officers will focus their attention on violations of state law and CMV federal regulations that may lead to or otherwise serve as a catalyst for collisions. In addition to the listed objectives, South Carolina will utilize media advisories and press releases in advance of the initiatives detailing our enforcement plan and safety messages.

Hands Across the Border

Each year during the Labor Day holiday weekend, SCDPS and agencies of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Network (SCLEN) participate in a multi-state Hands Across the Border enforcement effort.

Hands Across the Border brings together law enforcement in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia to conduct joint public safety checkpoints aimed at keeping drunk and drugged drivers off the roads. This initiative is part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.

Sober or Slammer

Sober or Slammer is a Department of Public Safety education and enforcement initiative designed to remind drivers that there are consequences to driving impaired.

Nearly half of all fatal crashes in South Carolina involve an impaired driver. Too many people are still taking risks that lead to their own death or the loss of an innocent life nearly every day right here in our state. Drinking and driving is a life-or-death choice. Before you make that choice, think about this: Who would you leave behind if you were killed in a drunk driving collision? Whose life would you selfishly take if you lived through the crash? If you survive, you’ll have plenty of time to think about your choice behind bars. Impaired drivers are on the radar of South Carolina law enforcement. More than 16,000 DUI arrests were made in South Carolina last year.

Operation Keep Us Safe

Operation Keep Us Safe is a collaborative enforcement initiative led by the Department of Public Safety to enhance the safety of law enforcement, first responders, highway workers and tow truck drivers working on our roadways.

During the initiative, the SC Highway Patrol and State Transport Police focus on enforcing all traffic violations with a special emphasis on violations related to the state's Move Over Law, which requires drivers to slow down and change lanes when approaching stopped emergency vehicles with flashing lights to ensure the safety of emergency responders and roadside workers. Local law enforcement agencies are invited to participate.