South Carolina

NHTSA Highway Safety Funding

Ecomomic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes

Traffic Safety Facts
South Carolina
2007-2011

Data Source: FARS 2007 - 2010 Final and Fars 2011 ARF

Home

GIS Fatal Traffic Crash Maps - Go to Mapping Section

Traffic Safety Performance (Core Outcome) Measures* For South Carolina

Core Outcome Measures		Year
Core Outcome Measures		2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Traffic Fatalities	Total	1,077	921	894	809	828
	Rural	966	878	878	611	694
	Urban	111	43	16	198	134
	Unknown	0	0	0	0	0
Fatalities Per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Driven**	Total	2.11	1.86	1.82	1.65
	Rural	3.81	3.63	3.62	2.58
	Urban	0.43	0.17	0.06	0.78
Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities (All Seat Positions)	Total	800	658	673	591	547
	Restrained	247	215	249	234	248
	Unrestrained	492	412	381	313	258
	Unknown	61	31	43	44	41
Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities (BAC=.08+)***		464	400	374	353	315
Speeding-Related Fatalities		454	350	337	288	276
Motorcyclist Fatalities	Total	131	123	108	101	129
	Helmeted	31	29	25	23	27
	Unhelmeted	96	91	82	75	100
	Unknown	4	3	1	3	2
Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes	Total	1,412	1,164	1,152	1,079	1,086
	Aged Under 15	2	4	3	0	0
	Aged 15-20	168	137	125	109	107
	Aged Under 21	170	141	128	109	107
	Aged 21 and Over	1,220	1,006	1,020	960	967
	Unknown Age	22	17	4	10	12
Pedestrian Fatalities		108	101	89	90	113

*These Performance Measures Were Developed By The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
and the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) (See Publication: DOT HS 811 025)
**2011 State Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Data is Not Yet Available
***Based on the BAC of All Involved Drivers and Motorcycle Riders Only

Fatality Rates: South Carolina , U.S. and Best State

Year		Fatalities	Total Vehicle Miles Traveled (Millions)	Fatalities Per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled	Total Population	Fatalities Per 100,000 Population
2007	South Carolina	1,077	51,109	2.11	4,444,110	24.23
	US	41,259	3,031,124	1.36	301,231,207	13.70
	Best State*			0.79		6.53
2008	South Carolina	921	49,597	1.86	4,528,996	20.34
	US	37,423	2,976,528	1.26	304,093,966	12.31
	Best State*			0.67		5.63
2009	South Carolina	894	49,130	1.82	4,589,872	19.48
	US	33,883	2,956,764	1.15	306,771,529	11.05
	Best State*			0.62		4.90
2010	South Carolina	809	49,124	1.65	4,637,106	17.45
	US	32,999	2,966,506	1.11	309,330,219	10.67
	Best State*			0.64		3.97
2011	South Carolina	828			4,679,230	17.70
	US	32,367	2,930,654	1.10	311,591,917	10.39
	Best State*					4.37

*State (or States) With Lowest Rates: Lowest VMT and Population Rates Could Be in Different States
2011 National VMT is a Preliminary Estimate and Subject to Change
2011 State Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Data is Not Yet Available

Fatalities By The Highest Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) in the Crash**:
South Carolina , U.S. and Best State

(Old Definition)

Year		Total Fatalities in all Crashes	Highest BAC level in the Crash
			BAC = .01+			BAC = .08+
			Number	Percent	Per 100 Million VMT	Number	Percent	Per 100 Million VMT
2007	South Carolina	1,077	582	54	1.14	517	48	1.01
	US	41,259	17,158	42	0.57	14,603	35	0.48
	Best State*			24	0.27		21	0.23
2008	South Carolina	921	513	56	1.03	454	49	0.92
	US	37,423	15,449	41	0.52	13,258	35	0.45
	Best State*			21	0.21		16	0.16
2009	South Carolina	894	462	52	0.94	413	46	0.84
	US	33,883	14,179	42	0.48	12,149	36	0.41
	Best State*			25	0.24		18	0.17
2010	South Carolina	809	448	55	0.91	393	49	0.80
	US	32,999	13,323	40	0.45	11,462	35	0.39
	Best State*			23	0.21		20	0.19
2011	South Carolina	828	425	51		352	43
	US	32,367	13,155	41	0.45	11,397	35	0.39
	Best State*			28			18

*State (or States) With Lowest Percents: Lowest Percents Could Be in Different States
**Based on the BAC of All Involved Drivers, Motorcycle Riders, Pedalcyclists and Pedestrians
2011 National VMT is a Preliminary Estimate and Subject to Change
2011 State Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Data is Not Yet Available

Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities**:
South Carolina , U.S. and Best State

(New Definition)

Year		Total Fatalities in all Crashes	Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities (BAC = .08+)
Year		Total Fatalities in all Crashes	Number	Percent	Per 100 Million VMT
2007	South Carolina	1,077	464	43	0.91
	US	41,259	13,041	32	0.43
	Best State*			19	0.21
2008	South Carolina	921	400	43	0.81
	US	37,423	11,711	31	0.39
	Best State*			16	0.16
2009	South Carolina	894	374	42	0.76
	US	33,883	10,759	32	0.36
	Best State*			17	0.16
2010	South Carolina	809	353	44	0.72
	US	32,999	10,136	31	0.34
	Best State*			18	0.17
2011	South Carolina	828	315	38
	US	32,367	9,878	31	0.34
	Best State*			17

*State (or States) With Lowest Percents: Lowest Percents Could Be in Different States
**Based on the BAC of All Involved Drivers and Motorcycle Riders Only
2011 National VMT is a Preliminary Estimate and Subject to Change
2011 State Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Data is Not Yet Available

       Fatalities per 100 Million VMT

Plot of STATE_TOT_RATE * YEAR

       Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities
       per 100 Million VMT

Plot of STATE_ALC_RATE * YEAR

2011 National VMT is a Preliminary Estimate and Subject to Change
2011 State Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Data is Not Yet Available

Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Reporting Rates
For Drivers/Motorcycle Rider (Operators)
Involved in Fatal Crashes:
South Carolina , U.S. and Best State

Year		Surviving Drivers/Motorcycle Rider			Killed Drivers/Motorcycle Rider			Total Drivers/Motorcycle Rider
		Total	With Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Results Reported to FARS		Total	With Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Results Reported to FARS		Total	With Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Results Reported to FARS
		Total	Number	Percent	Total	Number	Percent	Total	Number	Percent
2007	South Carolina	708	50	7	704	516	73	1,412	566	40
	US	29,449	7,631	26	26,570	19,434	73	56,019	27,065	48
	Best State*			82			100			84
2008	South Carolina	548	38	7	616	459	75	1,164	497	43
	US	26,162	7,656	29	24,254	18,415	76	50,416	26,071	52
	Best State*			81			99			85
2009	South Carolina	538	48	9	614	473	77	1,152	521	45
	US	23,502	7,188	31	21,835	16,753	77	45,337	23,941	53
	Best State*			86			100			90
2010	South Carolina	526	40	8	553	460	83	1,079	500	46
	US	23,527	7,927	34	21,072	16,405	78	44,599	24,332	55
	Best State*			92			100			91
2011	South Carolina	546	50	9	540	459	85	1,086	509	47
	US	22,915	6,864	30	20,753	15,025	72	43,668	21,889	50
	Best State*			88			96			93

*State (or States) With Highest Percents: Highest Percents Could Be in Different States

Daytime Front Seat (Outboard Only) Passenger Vehicle Occupants, Aged 5 and Over, by Restraint Use:
Fatalities and Observed
South Carolina , U.S. and Best State

Year		Fatalities - Restrained**	Observed - Restrained***
Year		Percent	Percent
2007	South Carolina	47	75
	US	57	82
	Best State*	82	98
2008	South Carolina	50	79
	US	56	83
	Best State*	78	97
2009	South Carolina	51	82
	US	58	84
	Best State*	77	98
2010	South Carolina	55	85
	US	59	85
	Best State*	100	98
2011	South Carolina	58	86
	US	59	84
	Best State*	80	98

*State With Highest Percent. Fatal Crash and Observed Percents Can Be Different States
**Percent Based Only Where Restraint Use Was Known
***USA Data: National Occupant Protection Use Survey. South Carolina Data: State Survey
Note: The Purpose of this Table is to Compare (as closely as possible) the Use of Restraint Systems
by Fatally Injured Occupants with Occupants in all Driving Situations

       Daytime Front Seat (Outboard Only)
       Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities
       Aged 5 and Over, by Percent Restraint Use*

Plot of STATE_BELT_RATE * YEAR

       Daytime Front Seat (Outboard Only)
       Passenger Vehicle Occupants Observed
       Aged 5 and Over, by Percent Restraint Use**

Plot of STATE_NOPUS_RATE * YEAR

*Percent Based Only Where Restraint Use Was Known
**USA Data: National Occupant Protection Use Survey. South Carolina Data: State Survey

South Carolina Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities Age 5 and Above
by Restraint Use and Lives Saved Estimates

Year	Fatalities Age 5 and Above*					Lives Saved Estimates**
Year	Total	Restrained	Unrestrained	Unknown Restraint Use	Percent Known Restrained*	Lives Saved at Current Belt Use	Potential Additional Lives Savable at 100% Usage
2007	784	240	483	61	33	313	200
2008	651	212	410	29	34	254	132
2009	664	245	377	42	39	314	138
2010	580	228	310	42	42	296	110
2011	538	245	253	40	49	313	106

*Percent Based Only Where Restraint Use Was Known
**Lives Saved Estimates (Sum of columns may not equal other published numbers due to rounding)

South Carolina Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities Age 4 and Under
by Restraint Use and Lives Saved Estimates

Year	Fatalities Age 4 and Under*					Lives Saved Estimates**
Year	Total	Restrained	Unrestrained	Unknown Restraint Use	Percent Known Restrained*	Lives Saved at Current Seat Belt and Child Safety Seat Usage
2007	11	7	4	0	64	7
2008	5	3	1	1	75	4
2009	8	4	3	1	57	5
2010	8	6	1	1	86	9
2011	9	3	5	1	38	5

*Percent Based Only Where Restraint Use Was Known
**Lives Saved Estimates

South Carolina Motorcyclist Fatalities
by Helmet Use and Lives Saved Estimates

Year	Fatalities					Lives Saved Estimates**
Year	Total	Helmeted	Unhelmeted	Unknown Helmet Use	Percent Known Helmeted*	Lives Saved at Current Helmet Use	Additional Lives Savable at 100% Helmet Usage
2007	131	31	96	4	24	19	37
2008	123	29	91	3	24	17	35
2009	108	25	82	1	23	15	31
2010	101	23	75	3	23	14	29
2011	129	27	100	2	21	16	37

*Percent Based Only Where Helmet Use Was Known
**Lives Saved Estimates (Sum of columns may not equal other published numbers due to rounding)

South Carolina Fatalities by Person Type

Person Type		2007		2008		2009		2010		2011
Person Type		Number	Percent*	Number	Percent*	Number	Percent*	Number	Percent*	Number	Percent*
Occupants	Passenger Car	415	39	369	40	373	42	315	39	315	38
	Light Truck - Pickup	191	18	138	15	152	17	117	14	85	10
	Light Truck - Utility	155	14	110	12	119	13	122	15	122	15
	Light Truck - Van	39	4	41	4	29	3	37	5	25	3
	Large Truck	11	1	19	2	10	1	7	1	23	3
	Other/Unknown Occupants	5	0	5	1	2	0	5	1	1	0
	Total Occupants	816	76	683	74	685	77	603	75	571	69
	Bus	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Motorcyclists	Total Motorcyclists	131	12	123	13	108	12	101	12	129	16
Nonoccupants	Pedestrian	108	10	101	11	89	10	90	11	113	14
	Bicyclist and Other Cyclist	21	2	14	2	11	1	14	2	15	2
	Other/Unknown Nonoccupants	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
	��Total Nonoccupants	130	12	115	12	101	11	105	13	128	15
Total	Total	1,077	100	921	100	894	100	809	100	828	100

*Sum of Percents May Not = 100 Due to Individual Cell Rounding

South Carolina Fatalities by Crash Type

Crash Type	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Total Fatalities (All Crashes)*	1,077	921	894	809	828
- (1) Single Vehicle	678	595	569	499	520
- (2) Involving a Large Truck	91	85	82	65	89
- (3) Involving Speeding	454	350	337	288	276
- (4) Involving a Rollover	337	228	212	246	224
- (5) Involving a Roadway Departure	679	556	543	475	454
- (6) Involving an Intersection (or Intersection Related)	158	150	147	152	142

(1) Crash Involved Only One Coded Vehicle
(2) Crash Involved at Least One Large Truck
(3) Crash Involved at Least One Vehicle Speeding
(4) Crash Involved at Least One Vehicle That Rolled Over
(5) Crash Involved at Least One Vehicle That Departed the Roadway (FHWA Definition)
(6) Crash Occured Within an Intersection or Within the Approach to an Intersection
*A Fatality Can Be in More Than One Category. Therefore Sum of the Individual Cells Will Not Equal the Total Due to Double Counting

South Carolina Motorcyclist Fatalities by Age

Year	Age						Total
Year	<20	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	>59	Total
2007	3	28	25	36	29	10	131
2008	10	29	18	35	22	9	123
2009	5	20	24	30	22	7	108
2010	2	25	27	14	25	8	101
2011	8	25	25	37	20	14	129

South Carolina Motorcyclist Fatalities Per 100,000 Registered Motorcycles

Year	Motorcyclist Fatalities	Total Motorcycle Registrations*	Motorcyclist Fatalities Per 100,000 Motorcycle Registrations
2007	131	95,011	137.9
2008	123	103,051	119.4
2009	108	106,263	101.6
2010	101	106,999	94.39
2011	129

*Data Source: FHWA
*2011 Motorcycle Registrations are Not Yet Available

South Carolina Fatalities by Person Type and Race/Hispanic Origin

Person Type by Race/Hispanic Origin		2007	2008	2009	2010
Occupants (All Vehicle Types)	Hispanic	62	43	40	33
	White Non-Hispanic	624	510	502	464
	Black, Non-Hispanic	258	244	247	202
	American Indian, Non-Hispanic/Unknown	0	1	0	0
	Asian, Non-Hispanic/Unknown	1	0	1	0
	All Other Non-Hispanic or Race	2	7	3	5
	Unknown Race and Unknown Hispanic	0	1	0	0
	Total	947	806	793	704
Non-Occupants (Pedestrians, Pedalcyclists and Other/Unknown NonOccupants)	Hispanic	10	10	4	5
	White Non-Hispanic	69	65	53	55
	Black, Non-Hispanic	51	40	44	44
	All Other Non-Hispanic or Race	0	0	0	1
	Total	130	115	101	105
Total	Hispanic	72	53	44	38
	White Non-Hispanic	693	575	555	519
	Black, Non-Hispanic	309	284	291	246
	American Indian, Non-Hispanic/Unknown	0	1	0	0
	Asian, Non-Hispanic/Unknown	1	0	1	0
	All Other Non-Hispanic or Race	2	7	3	6
	Unknown Race and Unknown Hispanic	0	1	0	0
	Total	1,077	921	894	809

2011 Race/Hispanic Origin Data is Not Yet Complete

5 Year Trend For The Top 10 Counties of 2011 - Fatalities

South Carolina Counties by 2011 Ranking		Fatalities					Percent of Total
South Carolina Counties by 2011 Ranking		2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
1	Greenville County	88	70	54	50	54	8	8	6	6	7
2	Horry County	88	48	64	49	52	8	5	7	6	6
3	Lexington County	42	60	38	39	52	4	7	4	5	6
4	Charleston County	67	61	50	51	50	6	7	6	6	6
5	Anderson County	49	27	36	37	43	5	3	4	5	5
6	Spartanburg County	56	46	34	45	43	5	5	4	6	5
7	Richland County	49	43	42	43	40	5	5	5	5	5
8	Berkeley County	30	40	42	30	34	3	4	5	4	4
9	York County	28	31	27	26	31	3	3	3	3	4
10	Aiken County	45	30	33	31	29	4	3	4	4	4
Sub Total 1.*	Top Ten Counties	560	472	434	416	428	52	51	49	51	52
Sub Total 2.**	All Other Counties	517	449	460	393	400	48	49	51	49	48
Total	All Counties	1,077	921	894	809	828	100	100	100	100	100

*This Sub Total is the Total for the Top Ten Counties
**This Sub Total is the Total for all Counties Outside the Top Ten

5 Year Trend For The Top 10 Counties of 2011 - Fatalities Year to Year Percent Change

South Carolina Counties by 2011 Ranking		Fatalities					Percent Change From Previous Year
South Carolina Counties by 2011 Ranking		2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2008	2009	2010	2011
1	Greenville County	88	70	54	50	54	-20	-23	-7	8
2	Horry County	88	48	64	49	52	-45	33	-23	6
3	Lexington County	42	60	38	39	52	43	-37	3	33
4	Charleston County	67	61	50	51	50	-9	-18	2	-2
5	Anderson County	49	27	36	37	43	-45	33	3	16
6	Spartanburg County	56	46	34	45	43	-18	-26	32	-4
7	Richland County	49	43	42	43	40	-12	-2	2	-7
8	Berkeley County	30	40	42	30	34	33	5	-29	13
9	York County	28	31	27	26	31	11	-13	-4	19
10	Aiken County	45	30	33	31	29	-33	10	-6	-6
Sub Total 1.*	Top Ten Counties	560	472	434	416	428	-16	-8	-4	3
Sub Total 2.**	All Other Counties	517	449	460	393	400	-13	2	-15	2
Total	All Counties	1,077	921	894	809	828	-14	-3	-10	2

*This Sub Total is the Total for the Top Ten Counties
**This Sub Total is the Total for all Counties Outside the Top Ten

5 Year Trend For The Top 10 Counties of 2011 - Fatality Rates

Median Rate for all U.S. Counties: 17.02

South Carolina Counties by 2011 Ranking		Fatalities Per 100,000 Population
South Carolina Counties by 2011 Ranking		2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
1	Jasper County	78.36	59.27	61.90	68.12	95.26
2	Barnwell County	43.76	39.54	30.96	13.27	53.67
3	Colleton County	61.91	53.83	43.74	48.83	51.80
4	Clarendon County	35.04	37.28	60.10	34.35	43.20
5	Fairfield County	79.44	45.58	33.22	46.07	42.43
6	Edgefield County	22.65	26.14	11.10	18.56	41.24
7	Calhoun County	52.42	6.59	45.85	66.05	39.62
8	Dillon County	38.18	34.83	22.00	43.57	37.79
9	Bamberg County	30.81	12.42	18.72	25.03	37.56
10	Marlboro County	34.22	27.51	37.69	13.85	31.57
Sub Rate 1.*	Top Ten Counties	53.92	44.41	47.69	43.46	47.62
Sub Rate 2.**	All Other Counties	21.95	18.70	17.28	15.16	15.92
Total Rate	All Counties	24.23	20.34	19.48	17.45	17.70