2011 motorcycle, pedestrian fatalities up

Traffic fatalities on South Carolina roads in 2011 will increase over 2010, the result of a spike in motorcycle and pedestrian deaths.

But motor vehicle occupant deaths are down so far this year to 560, compared with 592 at the same time last year, according to the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Highway Safety.

Total numbers as of midnight Wednesday, with three days to go in 2011:

• 811 overall fatalities, compared with 803 in 2010

• 102 motorcycle fatalities, compared with 82 in 2010

• 110 pedestrian deaths, compared with 89 in 2010

Behind each number is a person.

One pedestrian killed was Lisa Pierce, 48. On Dec. 19, she was struck while crossing St. Andrews Road about 9:20 p.m. in Lexington County.

Like Pierce, a majority of pedestrians who die on S.C. roads are struck at night and either are wearing dark clothing or have been drinking so much it impairs their judgment, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol. Pierce’s alcohol blood level was found to be .21 — enough to impair her, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol. The 2009 Nissan SUV that struck her when she stepped into its path was going less than the posted 40 mph speed limit, and its driver was not charged.

On Dec. 23, Michael Joe Gaskins, 69, was riding his motorcycle down S.C. 341 in Kershaw County when he struck the side of a van turning onto the road. He died at the scene.

Like 76 of the 102 motorcyclists killed this year, Gaskins was not wearing a helmet.

The soaring numbers of motorcyclists killed without helmets has prompted a state senator to prefile a bill that would require all motorcycle riders to wear one. Already, state motorcycle groups are mounting a campaign to defeat the bill, saying it interferes with their “freedoms.”

“I’m going to stick with the bill because it’s the right thing to do,” said bill sponsor Sen. Ralph Anderson, D-Greenville. “I’ve received a lot of calls from parents whose boys have been killed on motorcycles and they support it.”

Although motorcycle groups say Anderson’s law would be “unconstitutional,” Anderson says it is no more unconstitutional than the state’s mandatory seat belt law. According to safety experts, that law has been largely responsible for reducing the number of annual motor vehicle deaths in South Carolina since 2005, when it was passed.