News 12 at 11 o'clock -- March 15, 2010

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- In Georgia and South Carolina, more than a thousand people died on rural highways in 2009 making up for the majority of highway fatalities.

When driving on Highway 56 in Augusta, otherwise known as Mike Padgett Highway, flowers, crosses and memorials remembering loved ones are a common sight.

Of them, Jamie Young's memorial is one of them, whose mother Sandra Brown and her family continue to mourn his loss daily.

"You can't describe what it feels like when you wake up every morning to know that your baby is not going to be there," Brown said. "There's no way to describe that."

Since the accident in 2009, many others have lost their lives on Mike Padgett Highway. According to numbers from the Georgia Department of Transportation, eight died on the highway in 2009, which is tied with the Bobby Jones Expressway for the most fatalities on a highway in Richmond County.

"There's about to be hundreds and hundreds of more cars on this road," she said. "You don't see patrols or state patrol out here."

"Save Lives on Highway 56" is a Facebook Cause that's 1,740 members strong, which is asking for leaders to add a lane to the deadly highway. The plan to build work on the highway is set to begin in 2012.

But Highway 56 isn't alone, of the 885 people who died on Georgia Highways in 2009, 486 of them died on rural highways.

In South Carolina, of the 895 who died on South Carolina Highways, 649 of them died on rural highways.

South Carolina Highway Patrol tells News 12 even though the roads are less traveled, they are more dangerous because they are unfamiliar territory for many drivers.

Whether it's animals, farm equipment or winding roads, Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Scot Edgeworth said drivers should adhere to the speed limit especially at night, because your headlights will only light up so much of the rural highways.

Also without a shoulder and very few lanes, there is little room for error, Edgeworth said.

But Brown said she sees cars speeding constantly on rural highways like Highway 56, which is been the hot topic of having an extra lane added in order to ensure safety for drivers.

More lanes, which would hopefully mean fewer memorials bearing the names of loved ones, like Brown's son, Jamie.

"They need to stop looking at the numbers and look at all of the faces that have died on this road," she said. "How much of our future is going to die?"

The total number of fatal traffic accidents across the country has declined compared to 2008, but thousands of families still mourn the loss of their loved ones on the roads.