OPINION
BY CAROLINE REYNOLDS, Freshman
BLYTHEWOOD- Driving down Hobart Road is a terrifying thing to perform. Knowing when to swerve left, right, or just go straight to miss the potholes. This is what most South Carolina roads are like.
South Carolina roads are broken, damaged, and embarrassing.
As a South Carolinian, being a young driver is a scary thing to do in our state.
Before I started driving, as I grew up in South Carolina, I experienced many bumpy and broken roads.
After the historic floods in South Carolina in October 2015, more than 300 roads were damaged, not even including the roads that were damaged before.
According to the South Carolina Alliance to Fix Our Roads (SCATFOR), There has been a 43 percent increase of traffic in the last 10 years in light of the damage of South Carolina roads.
According the the SCATFOR, 18.6 million hours are lost by South Carolina drivers in the last year from waiting in traffic.
South Carolina has been spending all the money needed in order to repair there roads on filling in only major highways.
At this moment in time, more roads are broken, more bridges are crumbling apart.
Right now in South Carolina, more than 1,650 bridges are closed or need to be repaired, 8 highway miles are shut down, and over 300 roads are damaged, according to the SCATFOR.
South Carolina roads are so dangerous that for every 1000 people, there are 16.1 deaths from fatal car crashes. In comparison, most states level of deaths from fatal car crashes is 10.3.
The roads are so bad in South Carolina that 69 percent of the pavement in the state is in poor condition.
Recently, South Carolina’s Highway 17 was ranked 5th most dangerous travel route in the country.
People on the Facebook page of the SCATFOR state things along the lines of “ I-85 from Spartanburg to Greenville is a disgrace. Wonder what out of state drivers think.” and “You'd think we would have pride for the purpose of our state. But our roads don't reflect that at all. It's down right pitiful.”
Our roads discourage tourism in South Carolina and we need in order to invest in better roads and bridges in order to stay competitive with our neighboring states.
“Our roads are a disgrace to our state,” says Joel Reynolds, member of the SCATFOR.
Nikki Haley, South Carolina’s Governor, and lawmakers top priority this year for South Carolina was roads. This was stated before the flood.
Nikki Haley could only come up with 114 million dollars of the 1.4 billion dollars that are needed, and she is depending on our Congregation in order to give us the rest.
The 1.4 million estimation is a number that can not and will not be achieved through the regular budgeting process, according to “The Journal Scene”.
Bad roads cost an estimated $225 a year for every South Carolinian according to The State.
“South Carolinians pay $10 a month in motor fuel fees in order to use the highways. You get what you pay for,” says Reynolds.
"The idea that there’s enough money to fix our roads, or cut our taxes — much less do both — is laughable," says Cindi Scoppe, Associate Editor for The State Newspaper.
Increasing highway funding is the way our roads will be fixed.
Investing $15 more per month in motor fuel fees can save every family $75 in vehicle problems. That’s $720 a year in savings.
