Fatal crash profile · State

Traffic deaths in South Carolina

Deaths, 2024: 1,038
Fatal crashes: 948
Population: 5.5M

In 2024, 1,038 people died in 948 fatal crashes in South Carolina, about 3 a day. That was 0.9% fewer than in 2023 (1,047) and the fewest since 2019. The death rate was 18.9 per 100,000 residents, compared with 11.5 in the United States. South Carolina had the 13th most traffic deaths of the 51 states and DC and the 4th-highest death rate. Pedestrians accounted for 15% of deaths, and 37% of fatal crashes were speeding-related.

Deaths

Traffic deaths

18.9

deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024

About 1.6 times the rate in the United States: 11.5

-1%

change in deaths from 2023 to 2024

1,047 deaths in 2023, 1,038 in 2024

The United States: -4%

Traffic deaths by year, 1975–2024

Category	Deaths	Fatal crashes
1975	820	711
1976	806	694
1977	927	807
1978	883	778
1979	900	795
1980	852	747
1981	846	768
1982	730	667
1983	844	739
1984	916	820
1985	951	847
1986	1,059	944
1987	1,086	968
1988	1,031	908
1989	996	895
1990	979	884
1991	890	789
1992	807	718
1993	846	776
1994	847	753
1995	881	782
1996	930	821
1997	903	798
1998	1,002	912
1999	1,065	944
2000	1,065	948
2001	1,060	962
2002	1,053	949
2003	969	905
2004	1,046	946
2005	1,094	981
2006	1,045	973
2007	1,077	985
2008	921	841
2009	894	817
2010	809	750
2011	828	767
2012	863	806
2013	767	719
2014	823	756
2015	979	911
2016	1,020	941
2017	989	925
2018	1,036	969
2019	1,006	927
2020	1,066	964
2021	1,198	1,112
2022	1,094	1,019
2023	1,047	976
2024	1,038	948

People who died within 30 days of a crash. A fatal crash can kill more than one person.

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Deaths per 100,000 residents, 2000–2024

Category	Deaths per 100,000
2000	26.5
2001	26.1
2002	25.6
2003	23.4
2004	24.8
2005	25.6
2006	24.0
2007	24.2
2008	20.3
2009	19.5
2010	17.5
2011	17.7
2012	18.3
2013	16.1
2014	17.1
2015	20.0
2016	20.6
2017	19.7
2018	20.4
2019	19.5
2020	20.8
2021	23.1
2022	20.7
2023	19.4
2024	18.9

Uses Census population estimates, available from 2000.

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Profile by year: 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020

Road users

Who died

15%

of deaths were pedestrians

About 85 percent of the share in the United States: 18%

Who died in 2024

Category	Deaths
Vehicle occupants and others	694
Pedestrians	156
Motorcyclists	154
Cyclists	34

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Deaths by type, 2024
Type	Deaths	Share in South Carolina	Share in the US
Pedestrians	156	15%	18%
Motorcyclists	154	15%	16%
Cyclists	34	3%	3%
Alcohol-impaired driving crashes	417	40%	30%
Speeding-related crashes	392	38%	29%

Alcohol-impaired and speeding-related count everyone killed in those crashes, so a death can appear in more than one row.

Crash factors

Speeding, alcohol, night and weekend crashes

37%

of fatal crashes were speeding-related

About 1.3 times the share in the United States: 28%

32%

of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver

About 1.3 times the share in the United States: 25%

Crash factors in 2024

Category	South Carolina	United States
Speeding-related	32.2%	24.8%
Alcohol-involved	36.8%	28.1%
At night	56.9%	53.6%
At weekends	35.3%	32.6%

Share of fatal crashes. Alcohol-involved means a police-reported drinking driver.

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Timing

When crashes happen

57%

of fatal crashes happened at night

About the same as the share in the United States: 54%

35%

of fatal crashes happened at weekends

About the same as the share in the United States: 33%

Fatal crashes by hour of day

Category	Fatal crashes
12am	224
1am	190
2am	183
3am	136
4am	128
5am	172
6am	182
7am	154
8am	108
9am	100
10am	126
11am	152
12pm	181
1pm	192
2pm	181
3pm	234
4pm	267
5pm	245
6pm	301
7pm	305
8pm	324
9pm	366
10pm	292
11pm	276

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by day of week

Category	Fatal crashes
Sun	769
Mon	636
Tue	584
Wed	696
Thu	625
Fri	766
Sat	943

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by month

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	341
Feb	367
Mar	396
Apr	398
May	448
Jun	446
Jul	423
Aug	442
Sep	416
Oct	487
Nov	429
Dec	426

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Conditions

Weather and light

Weather at the time of the crash

Category	Fatal crashes
Clear	4,244
Rain	415
Cloudy	287
Fog, Smog, Smoke	58
Snow	3
Severe Crosswinds	2

All crashes 2020–2024. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Light conditions at the time of the crash

Category	Fatal crashes
Daylight	2,071
Dark - Not Lighted	1,903
Dark - Lighted	468
Dark - Unknown Lighting	277
Dusk	171
Dawn	127

All crashes 2020–2024. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Roads and vehicles

Where and what, 2020–2024

Roads with the most fatal crashes

I-26134
US-17105
I-95101
I-2075
I-7773
I-8564
US-5243
US-7642
US-2537
US-2133

Road names as recorded in police reports.

Vehicles involved, by type

Category	Vehicles
Cars	2,939
SUVs	1,521
Pickup trucks	1,273
Motorcycles	812
Medium and heavy trucks	648
Vans	271
Other vehicles	146
Buses	16
Other light trucks	3

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Vehicles most often involved

Reflects how common a vehicle is as well as crash involvement; not a safety rating.

Crashes

Fatal crashes

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Fatal crashes in 2024. Crashes without reported coordinates are not shown.

Filter crashes

From To

Who died Time of day Day Weather Lighting Vehicle type involved Make involved

Alcohol-involved Speeding-related Distracted driver

Date	Location	Road	Deaths
Dec 19, 2024	Anderson County	SSR-143 RIVER RD	1
Dec 19, 2024	Dorchester County	SR-61 ASHLEY RIVER RD	1
Dec 19, 2024	Rock Hill, York County	SR-161 CELANESE RD	1
Dec 19, 2024	Columbia, Richland County	SR-555 FARROW RD	1
Dec 18, 2024	Cayce, Lexington County	US-21 CHARLESTON HWY	1
Dec 18, 2024	Sumter, Sumter County	SR-120 ALICE DRIVE	1
Dec 18, 2024	Sumter, Sumter County	SSR-25 LEWIS RD	1
Dec 17, 2024	Richland County	US-601 MCCORDS FERRY RD	1
Dec 17, 2024	Lancaster County	US-521 KERSHAW CAMDEN HWY	1
Dec 16, 2024	Walterboro, Colleton County	SSR-466 IRELAND CREEK	1
Dec 16, 2024	Horry County	SR-544 HWY 544	1
Dec 16, 2024	Greenville County	SR-146 WOODRUFF RD	1
Dec 16, 2024	York County	SR-49 LOCKHART HWY	1
Dec 15, 2024	Sumter County	US-76 GARNERS FERRY RD	1
Dec 15, 2024	Cherokee County	SR-65 HOLLY RIDGE RD	1
Dec 15, 2024	Aiken County	SSR-22 VETERANS RD	1
Dec 15, 2024	Colleton County	SR-64 HAMPTON STREET	1
Dec 14, 2024	Berkeley County	US-52	1
Dec 14, 2024	Orangeburg County	US-21 JOE S JEFFORDS HWY	2
Dec 13, 2024	Lancaster County	SR-522 N ROCKY RIVER RD	3
Dec 13, 2024	Aiken County	I-20	1
Dec 13, 2024	York County	US-21 HWY 21	1
Dec 13, 2024	Greenville County	US-276 GEER HWY	1
Dec 11, 2024	Laurens County	I-26	1
Dec 11, 2024	Hollywood, Charleston County	SR-162 HWY 162	1

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Explore

Nearby and related

Counties in South Carolina

Area	Deaths, 2024	Per 100,000
Abbeville County	4	16.2
Aiken County	29	16.3
Allendale County	1	13.3
Anderson County	45	20.7
Bamberg County	3	23.4
Barnwell County	8	39.0
Beaufort County	27	13.3
Berkeley County	37	13.9
Calhoun County	6	42.3
Charleston County	61	14.1
Cherokee County	20	34.6
Chester County	8	24.6
Chesterfield County	10	22.5
Clarendon County	9	29.0
Colleton County	17	43.1
Darlington County	22	35.1
Dillon County	14	50.8
Dorchester County	38	21.7
Edgefield County	6	20.5
Fairfield County	10	48.8
Florence County	28	20.2
Georgetown County	20	30.2
Greenville County	94	16.4
Greenwood County	5	7.1
Hampton County	5	27.5
Horry County	58	14.0
Jasper County	17	46.8
Kershaw County	10	13.9
Lancaster County	20	18.0
Laurens County	17	24.1
Lee County	4	25.2
Lexington County	54	17.2
Marion County	14	49.1
Marlboro County	9	35.2
McCormick County	4	40.1
Newberry County	8	20.3
Oconee County	14	17.0
Orangeburg County	48	57.7
Pickens County	21	15.2
Richland County	63	14.6
Saluda County	8	40.9
Spartanburg County	66	17.8
Sumter County	23	21.9
Union County	10	37.3
Williamsburg County	9	30.2
York County	34	11.2

Cities

Cities with at least 10 fatal crashes across the loaded years are listed.

Rankings

Nearby states

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Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2020–2024. A fatal crash is one in which at least one person died within 30 days. Population: US Census Bureau estimates.

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	341
Feb	367
Mar	396
Apr	398
May	448
Jun	446
Jul	423
Aug	442
Sep	416
Oct	487
Nov	429
Dec	426

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	341
Feb	367
Mar	396
Apr	398
May	448
Jun	446
Jul	423
Aug	442
Sep	416
Oct	487
Nov	429
Dec	426

Category	Fatal crashes
Jan	341
Feb	367
Mar	396
Apr	398
May	448
Jun	446
Jul	423
Aug	442
Sep	416
Oct	487
Nov	429
Dec	426