Tag: Daily Gazette

Lois Rao, whose son died after being hit during a traffic stop, speaks to reporters outside the Department of Public Safety building in Blythewood on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)

BLYTHEWOOD — After drivers struck three law enforcement officers in the span of a month, the state Highway Patrol will crack down on distracted and unsafe driving, officials said Monday.

The recent string of crashes began Aug. 10, when a box truck hit Highway Patrol Trooper Dennis Ricks during an early morning traffic stop in Orangeburg. Ricks died from his injuries three days later.

Around midnight Sept. 7, a truck hit Senior Trooper Mitchell Williams with its side mirror on Interstate 77 near Columbia. Williams went to a local hospital and was released the same day, according to the Department of Public Safety. Two days later, Master Trooper Wayne LaBounty was airlifted to a hospital after being hit during a traffic stop in Lexington County, according to the department.

LaBounty is still in the hospital in stable condition, said Col. Christopher Williamson, commander of the state Highway Patrol.

Any driver passing an emergency vehicle, tow truck or construction crew stopped on the side of the road must “significantly reduce the speed” of their car and switch lanes if possible under a 1996 law known as the Move Over Law.

That law is often difficult for single troopers to enforce, since they are typically busy with whatever drew them to the side of the road in the first place. Through Friday, the Highway Patrol will send cars out in pairs for “Operation Keep Us Safe.”

That way, when one trooper makes a traffic stop, the other can monitor other drivers and pursue anyone who fails to slow down or move over, Williamson said.

Violators will receive a fine of between $300 and $500, according to the law.

Williamson has asked every sheriff’s department in the state to be similarly diligent about ticketing people who fail to yield for emergency vehicles this week.

Flashing messages on the state’s highways will read “See flashing lights, move over. It’s the law.”

The goal of the weeklong “blitz,” as Williamson called it, is to remind drivers of the law, he said.

Too many people are either distracted while driving and miss the emergency lights or don’t care enough to pull over, Williamson said.

The trend of drivers not following the Move Over Law has been happening for much longer than a month, he said.

Earlier this year, the Department of Public Safety reminded drivers of the importance of slowing down and moving away from law enforcement after two near-misses in less than two weeks.

On June 4, as a trooper spoke with the driver of a stopped car in Dorchester County, another car plowed into the scene, narrowly missing the state trooper and sending the parked car careening off the road, according to a video the department released of the incident. Ten days later, another video showed a trooper in Richland County leaping over a guardrail to avoid a car that lost control near the scene of another accident.

Williamson stopped short of asking for a change in law Monday, pleading instead with the public to follow what’s already in place or face the penalties.

“I don’t know how to get through to people to care about what’s going on outside of their phones, their own vehicles and their own world,” Williamson said. “What I do know is that their lack of attention, their lack of good judgment and their lack of regard for other human lives has got to stop.”

Workers who must stop on the side of the road understand their jobs come with some level of risk, but it’s up to drivers to minimize the chance of harming them, Williamson said.

“What we didn’t sign up for is a blatant disregard for our safety that seems to be running rampant,” Williamson said. “There’s only so much our troopers can do to control the conditions and environment on the side of an interstate with vehicles flying by at speeds often higher than the posted speed limits.”

If one of those cars loses control, the result can be devastating for the troopers and their families.

Master Trooper Devin Kugler, for instance, always takes an extra look over his shoulder when making traffic stops after a crash left him with brain injuries, broken bones, nerve damage and hearing loss.

Kugler was preparing to perform a sobriety test on the side of a Greenville County road when a car hit him. The driver who struck him pleaded guilty to hit-and-run charges in 2023 and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Many people zoom past emergency lights without causing a collision, so they think there’s no reason to slow down, especially if they’re in a hurry, Kugler said. But slowing down often adds just a few extra seconds to a commute and could save a life, he said.

“We’ve got to put forth that extra effort,” he said.

Lois Rao echoed his plea. Every time she hears about another trooper injured or killed on the side of the road, she thinks of her son, Michael Rao.

He was on the side of a Clarendon County road helping a stranded driver when a pickup truck struck him at 81 miles per hour. Rao died from his injuries two days later, in June 2002. The pickup driver pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and spent five years on probation.

More than two decades later, Lois Rao still chokes up when talking about her son.

“The Move Over Law does save lives,” Rao said. “Do not subject another mother to bury her son.”

Although the targeted enforcement effort will last only a week, drivers should continue to expect tickets for disobeying the law after this week, Williamson said.

Officers will also more strictly enforce the hands-free driving law that went into effect Sept. 1. Until February, anyone caught holding a cellphone while driving will receive a warning, officials said.

“After Friday, I hope that the broader public don’t think that we are just going away,” Williamson said.