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Laurens City Council urges state lawmakers to authorize local pedestrian-safety zones and enhanced penalties
Summary
Council unanimously adopted a resolution urging the South Carolina General Assembly to allow local governments and DOT to designate pedestrian safety zones and to authorize enhanced penalties for traffic violations in those zones.
The Laurens City Council unanimously passed a resolution requesting that the South Carolina General Assembly enact legislation permitting local governments and the Department of Transportation to designate pedestrian-safety zones and to enforce enhanced penalties for traffic violations in those zones.
Council members said the measure would add a tool similar to the existing work-zone and school-zone penalty enhancements, but targeted to areas with concentrated pedestrian activity. The mayor told colleagues that the request stems in part from pedestrian fatalities in the city this year; he said the city has experienced pedestrian deaths and described the change as a "common-sense" public-safety step.
Council discussion touched on the broader need for sidewalks and pedestrian infrastructure. One councilor noted the city's Connect Laurens program has inventoried streets and identified roughly 25 miles of potential new sidewalks; councilors said those infrastructure needs would still require DOT funding and further planning.
The resolution does not itself create local law or designate specific zones; it asks the state legislature to expand the statutory categories that carry enhanced penalties so local governments can protect pedestrian corridors.
