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Regional FHWA study recommends simple countermeasures to cut roadway‑departure deaths in McCormick County
Summary
A regional study presented to McCormick County Council found 68% of roadway‑departure crashes in the six‑county region end in fatalities and recommended low‑cost countermeasures — wider reflective edge stripes, rumble strips, guardrails and shoulder work — and offered GIS files for local implementation.
Mister Whit Whit Green, presenting for a regional council of governments, told McCormick County Council on July 10 that a Federal Highway Administration‑assisted ‘roadway departure safety implementation plan’ for the six‑county region found that 68% of roadway‑departure crashes in the region result in fatalities and recommended a set of low‑cost countermeasures to reduce those crashes.
The plan highlights behavioral contributors including driver inattention and speeding but focuses on roadway treatments that state DOTs can deliver, Green said. Recommended countermeasures include widening reflective edge stripes (from the current 4‑inch standard to 6 inches), adding rumble strips and centerline treatments, installing guardrails at high‑risk locations and improving shoulder transitions.
"If you increase those to 6 inches wide and make them more reflective, that would reduce the amount of accidents according to what the Federal Highway Administration says," Green said during his presentation. He offered paper copies of the plan and GIS shapefiles identifying potential improvement sites in McCormick County and said staff can provide those files to county staff.
Council members responded with local observations. One council member noted DOT has been installing extra guardrails on the county’s south end and called the measures “annoying” but effective; another described the noise‑making rumble strips and centerline markings as useful when drivers are inattentive.
The plan’s focus on low‑cost, implementable countermeasures and the offer of GIS locations could allow McCormick County staff to coordinate with SCDOT and seek grant funding for targeted treatments, Green said. The presenter and council agreed to share the plan and GIS files with county staff for follow‑up.
Next steps noted at the meeting included county staff review of the GIS shapefiles and coordination with SCDOT and grant‑seeking efforts to fund pilot installations of recommended countermeasures.
