Lexington County Plans DUI Crackdown

Sheriff James Metts is aiming to make Lexington County roads safer by asking bar owners to take some responsibility for their intoxicated customers. 

The sheriff is urging bar owners in three trouble spots in the county to stop serving alcohol to drunk customers and arrange for transportation to take them home, according to a report in The State newspaper. 

With 40 highway deaths so far this year, Lexington County is leading the state in traffic fatalities. Only two other counties have as many deaths as Lexington County.

Deputies will increase patrols at areas that Metts said are trouble spots: S.C. 6 in the Red Bank area and parts of U.S. 1 and U.S. 378 along the south shore of Lake Murray, according to The State.

. 

Nearly half of South Carolina's traffic fatalities each year are DUI-related, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol.