ABSTRACT
Car accidents remain a significant cause of death in South Carolina and across the U.S.
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety tracks car accidents, injuries, deaths and associated costs.
The department estimates that medical bills, lost wages, damaged property, and other costs result in over $5 billion in economic losses to South Carolina every year. This report explores car accident costs, statistics, and trends in South Carolina and nationwide as data is available.
Representing Injured People Since 1927
Vehicle Fatalities in South Carolina and Nationwide
Car accidents remain a significant cause of death in the United States. In 2022, 46,027 people died in automobile crashes nationwide.
While this number is slightly lower than 2021’s total of 42,939 deaths, it still means that nearly 13 of every 100,000 US residents lost their lives in a car accident in 2022.
In South Carolina, 688 drivers and vehicle passengers died in car accidents in 2021. Large truck drivers and passengers also suffered fatalities, totaling 13 deaths in 2022. In addition, 170 motorcyclists, 172 pedestrians, and 25 bicyclists died in South Carolina car crashes. Thousands more suffered injuries in vehicle accidents.
Car crashes come with hefty costs as well. In 2022, medical bills for car crash injuries totaled $5.2 billion. Lost wages, vehicle damage, and other expenses brought the total price tag to $481.2 billion in 2022 alone.
Fatal and Injury Accidents in South Carolina
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety maintains a yearly Traffic Collision Fact Book. The Fact Book provides insights into the risks on South Carolina roads.
In the most recent edition of the Fact Book (2022), the South Carolina Department of Public Safety notes that:
- Traffic deaths increased between 2020 and 2021 but decreased in 2022. In 2021, 1,198 people died in car crashes on South Carolina roads. This number decreased to 1,093 in 2022.
- More pedestrians died in traffic accidents in 2021 (194) than in 2020 (187). However, pedestrian fatalities decreased from 194 in 2021 to 173 in 2022.
- Bicyclist deaths, however increased by 50 percent between 2020 and 2022.
Between 2020 and 2022, the number of injuries in South Carolina traffic crashes also increased. In 2020, 47,985 car accident injuries were reported. In 2021, the number increased to 53,596 injuries and decreased to 50,172 in 2022. That is a 4.3 percent increase from 2020 to 2022, which was tempered by a 6.3 percent decrease from 2021 to 2022.
Both traffic deaths and injuries have steadily increased over the past several years, a trend that began to reverse in 2022. In 2021, traffic deaths exceeded 1,000 for the first time in several years. Serious injury collisions reached 2,392, a nine percent increase from 2020, and other injury collisions increased 11.1 percent. In total, South Carolina’s car crash numbers jumped 26 percent between 2020 and 2021.
In 2022, however, fatalities decreased by 8.8 percent, and serious injuries decreased by 13.6 percent.
The SCDPS estimates that these collisions have serious costs. The department estimates that medical bills, lost wages, damaged property, and other costs resulted in $5.2 billion in economic losses to South Carolina and its residents in 2021. A TRIP report places the costs even higher, at $32 billion for both economic and quality of life losses.
Data in this study comes from the National Safety Council (NSC), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the South Carolina Department of Public Safety (SCDPS), TRIP, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Fatal and Injury Car Accidents Nationwide
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) estimates that 42,939 people died in car accidents nationwide in 2021, for annual US death rates of 12.9 people per 100,000 and 1.37 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
Drunk driving continues to be a problem on roads in South Carolina and throughout the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that:
- 13,524 people were killed in drunk driving accidents nationwide in 2022 - totaling 32 percent of all car accident deaths that year.
- On average, one drunk driving death occurred every 39 minutes nationwide.
The National Safety Council estimates that 2023 was a safer year on US roads overall. Total deaths decreased by 4 percent even as the number of drivers on the roads, and the total miles those drivers covered, increased. The NHTSA reports similar decreases in its preliminary numbers.
However, not all categories of roadway travel are becoming safer. The NHTSA estimates that in 2023:
- Young driver (ages 15-24) deaths increased 3 percent over 2022,
- Motorcyclist deaths increased by 2 percent over 2022,
- Bicyclist deaths increased by 4 percent over 2022, and
- Deaths on rural local and collector roads stayed steady between 2022 and 2023.
In addition, the NHTSA noted that increases in fatal accidents on urban side streets continue to occur and are offset only slightly by decreases in fatal accidents on interstate and state freeways.
Fatal Car Accident Statistics
Causes of Car Accidents
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) refers to the cause of a car accident as the “critical reason” for the crash - the primary reason the crash occurred.
When several different factors play a role in a crash, the USDOT statistics focus on the final failure in the chain of events before the crash.
The Department of Transportation consistently lists “driver error” as the most common critical reason for car accidents. Driver error is listed as the cause of 90 percent or more of all accidents in official statistics.
Driver error can take many forms. Some of the most common include speeding, drunk driving, and improper driving, especially in work zones. Distracted driving, another form of driver error, is discussed later in this study.
Speeding
Speeding contributes to thousands of car accident deaths and injuries nationwide each year, according to the NSC. In 2022, speeding was a factor in 29 percent of all traffic deaths. Approximately 10,992 car accidents nationwide had speeding as a critical factor. A total of 12,151 people died in speeding-related crashes in the US in 2022.
In South Carolina in 2021, “exceeded authorized speed limit” was a factor in 32 fatal car accidents and 9,824 accidents that caused one or more injuries. A total of 35 people died, 51 suffered serious injuries, and 213 suffered other types of injuries in speeding accidents. “Driving too fast for conditions” claimed 284 lives and caused over 13,700 injuries.
Factors that make speeding dangerous include:
- Drivers have less time to spot a dangerous situation or a sudden emergency.
- Drivers have less time to react to traffic changes or dangerous situations in the road ahead.
- Drivers need more space to stop a vehicle moving at a higher speed.
- Road safety structures, like guardrails that can stop a vehicle at lower speeds, may be unable to stop the vehicle safely at higher speeds.
Drunk Driving
The NSC calls drunk and drugged driving “one of the biggest safety issues on US roads.” In 2022, drunk driving claimed 13,524 lives nationwide. While this number represented a slight decrease from 2021, the small decrease comes only after several years of increasing drunk driving fatality numbers.
Over the past forty years, drunk driving deaths have decreased, dropping from 48 percent of all crash deaths in 1982 to 32 percent in 2022. The NHTSA estimates that raising the minimum drinking age to 21 has saved over 31,000 lives. Public safety programs have also helped teach people about the risks of drinking and driving. Work remains to be done, however, to end the risks of drunk driving on South Carolina roads.
According to the SCDPS, “driver under the influence” of alcohol or drugs was a critical factor in 223 fatal and 2,422 injury-causing accidents on South Carolina roads in 2021. These drivers’ actions caused 267 deaths, 401 severe injuries, and 3,123 other injuries that year.
Improper Driving
“Improper driving” covers a wide range of driving behaviors, from failing to obey stop signs or traffic lights to tailgating and “road rage.”
Nationwide, thousands of fatal crashes each year involve some form of driver error. The NSC’s analysis reveals that the top forms of improper driving involved in fatal car accidents include:
- Unsafe driving: 18.4 percent of fatal crashes result from unsafe driving, such as speeding or tailgating.
- Careless driving: Lane drifting, inattention, and other signs of carelessness cause 8.8 percent of all fatal crashes involving driver error.
- Failure to yield right of way: 6.9 percent of fatal crashes involving driver error occur when a driver fails to yield the right of way.
- Improper lane usage: In 5.7 percent of fatal crashes caused by driver error, the critical event was a driver drifting into or using the wrong traffic lane.
Fatalities from Improper Driving
- 47 people died, and over 4,600 were injured by drivers who ignored stop signs, traffic lights, and other signals,
- 129 people died, and over 14,000 were injured by drivers who failed to yield the right of way,
- 3 people died, and nearly 2,700 were injured when a driver tailgated the vehicle in front of them,
- 40 people died, and 827 were injured in accidents involving a driver who engaged in “aggressive operation of vehicle.”
Work Zones
Construction work zones pose additional challenges for drivers.
Work zones are full of activity. They change the driving patterns in the area, requiring more attention from drivers. Workers and equipment are often close to the lanes, posing additional risks of a crash.
According to the NSC, 891 people died, and 37,701 were injured in work zone crashes nationwide in 2022. Of these 891 deaths:
- 528 occurred in a marked construction zone,
- 49 occurred in maintenance zones,
- 9 occurred in utility zones, and
- 305 were in work zones of an unspecified or unknown type.
Work Zone Fatalities
Work zone deaths increased steadily from 2010 to 2021. However, these deaths decreased slightly in 2022. Approximately 54 workers die each year in work zone crashes, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other deaths and injuries occur among drivers of vehicles, their passengers, and others who are passing through a work zone. In 2022:
- 584 drivers died in work zone crashes,
- 158 motor vehicle passengers died,
- 135 pedestrians were killed in work zones, and
- 9 bicyclists died in work zone accidents.
In South Carolina, nine people died in work zone accidents in 2022 - a significant decrease from the 2017 record of 20 deaths. South Carolina had lower rates of work zone deaths in 2022 than any neighboring state.
Fatal And Injury Accident Causes
Some types of car accidents are more likely to cause severe injuries or death than others, but any collision can produce catastrophic results.
In 2022, the most common types of fatal and injury-causing car accidents included:
- Angle collisions caused 8,800 deaths in 2022, totaling 44.9 percent of fatal collisions between two vehicles.
- Head-on collisions caused 5,800 deaths in 2022, totaling 29.6 percent of fatal collisions.
- Rear-end collisions caused 3,400 deaths in 2022, totaling 17.3 percent of fatal collisions between vehicles.
- Sideswipe and other two-vehicle collisions caused 1,600 deaths in 2022, totaling 8.2 percent of collisions between two vehicles.
Types of Collisions
Collisions between two vehicles caused a total of 19,600 deaths in 2022. Yet vehicle collisions accounted for only 42.6 percent of all roadway deaths that year. Other types of collisions that claimed one or more lives included:
- Collisions with objects. Crashes with light poles, roadway barriers, and other objects claimed 12,200 lives in 2022, or 26.5 percent of all crash deaths.
- Pedestrian accidents. Pedestrian crashes with vehicles caused 9,200 deaths nationwide in 2022, accounting for 20 percent of crash deaths.
- Bicycle accidents. Vehicles colliding with bicycles caused 1,400 deaths in 2022, or 3 percent of all traffic accident deaths.
- Train collisions. According to the NSC, 147 deaths resulted from vehicles colliding with trains in 2022, or 0.3 percent of all traffic accident deaths that year.
These accident types also caused serious injuries in 2022. Of a total of 5.2 million injuries reported that year:
- 1.74 million occurred in angle collisions,
- 1.52 million occurred in rear-end collisions,
- 427,000 occurred in sideswipe and other collisions,
- 363,000 occurred in head-on collisions.
78.1 percent of all injuries recorded by the NSC occurred when multiple motor vehicles collided. The NSC only records injuries that are severe enough to cause an injured person to seek medical treatment.
Cell Phone Use and Driver Distraction in South Carolina
Distracted driving is an issue in South Carolina and nationwide.
The number of drivers using cell phones on the road at any given time has dropped in the past ten years, according to an NSC analysis. In 2013, about 4.6 percent of drivers were on handheld phones; by 2022, the number had decreased to 2.1 percent.
However, the number of drivers manipulating a device to do things other than talk has increased. In 2013, about 1.7 percent of drivers were using their phones to message someone, play music, or do other tasks while driving. By 2022, that number jumped to 3.1 percent - an overall increase of 82 percent. And while hands-free headsets have become common in stores, only about 0.4 percent of drivers actually use them.
The number of fatal car accidents involving distracted drivers nationwide decreased from 2015 to 2018, only to increase again between 2018 and 2022. In 2022, 368 fatal distraction-related crashes involved cell phone use or 12.1 percent of all distraction-caused accidents.
Distraction remains an issue in South Carolina as well. In 2021, the SCDPS recorded 6 fatal crashes and 1,948 injury-causing crashes caused by a driver who was distracted or not paying attention to the road. Six people died, 112 suffered severe injuries, and 2,567 suffered other types of injuries in these crashes.
South Carolina Car Accidents by County
A fatal car crash can occur anywhere in South Carolina. Yet some counties tend to have higher rates of fatal and injury-causing crashes than others.
According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, the top five counties for car accidents in 2022 included:
- Charleston: 16,104 crashes
- Greenville: 15,919 crashes
- Richland: 12,731 crashes
- Horry: 11,076 crashes
- Spartanburg: 10,685 crashes
These counties also appeared in the top five counties for fatal traffic accidents in 2022, according to the Department of Public Safety:
- Charleston: 3,854 injury collisions, 57 fatal collisions
- Greenville: 3,464 injury collisions, 99 fatal collisions
- Richland: 2,868 injury collisions, 65 fatal collisions
- Horry: 2,844 injury collisions, 78 fatal collisions
- Spartanburg: 2,279 injury collisions, 52 fatal collisions
In 2021, McCormick County recorded the fewest total collisions, with 119, and the fewest injury-causing collisions, with 33. However, Allendale County recorded the fewest fatal traffic crashes, with just one collision in 2021.
The top five counties for car accidents are also among the South Carolina counties with the highest total number of vehicle registrations. York County, which ranks sixth for total vehicle registrations, also ranked sixth for injury collisions and seventh for total collisions overall in 2021, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
The Department of Public Safety estimates that economic losses resulting from car accidents in the top five counties totaled in the billions of dollars in 2021:
- Greenville County: $480,468,600
- Charleston County: $490,121,400
- Richland County: $396,378,000
- Horry County: $412,036,000
- Spartanburg County: $354,995,200
These numbers include only “economic” losses such as medical costs, lost wages, the costs of dispatching emergency services, and damaged property. They do not include losses such as pain and suffering or loss of quality of life due to a serious permanent injury or the loss of a loved one.
Costs of Car Accidents in South Carolina
Serious Injuries from Car Accidents
Car accidents can easily cause serious or fatal injuries. The forces involved in a car accident can cause serious harm to any part of the body. Many people involved in car accidents experience serious injuries to multiple body parts or systems.
Serious injuries that can result from a car accident include:
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Concussions, closed head injuries, or injuries in which an object pierces the skull and enters the brain may all occur during a car accident.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Damage to the spinal cord can cause lifelong problems with mobility and sensation in the area below the injury site. If the spinal cord is severed, permanent paralysis occurs. These are among the most expensive and difficult car accident injuries to treat.
Broken Bones
Broken bones often require surgery to treat. Additional surgeries may be required to address issues with healing or to remove or repair implanted rods, screws, and other hardware. Permanent pain, changes in mobility and function, and scarring may result.
Nerve Injuries
Damage to any of the nerves can cause ongoing issues with sensory functions, mobility, pain, and other medical problems. In some cases, these injuries are permanent.
Neck and Back Injuries
“Whiplash,” or neck sprain, commonly occurs as the head moves violently under the force of a crash. Back injuries like herniated discs can cause problems with pain, mobility, and other basic functions.
Amputations
Whether from the accident itself or as part of necessary medical treatment, an amputation permanently removes one or more limbs from the body. The patient must re-learn how to carry out basic life activities, often with the use of a prosthetic device.
Burn Injuries
Burns from fires or from electrical or chemical exposure during a crash can also cause permanent pain, disfigurement, and other issues.
Permanent Scarring
Scarring and disfigurement may occur from contact with flying glass or debris, or it may be a result of surgery or other medical treatment after the crash.
Psychological Injuries
A severe car accident is a terrifying event. Trauma, depression, anxiety, and other psychological injuries can easily occur, requiring medical attention to treat and manage for years after the accident.
For many car accident survivors, several injuries must be addressed at the same time. Some injuries may not be immediately apparent after the crash. Others can linger for years or have lifelong consequences.
Contact An Experienced South Carolina Car Accident Lawyer for Assistance
If you suffered a serious injury or lost a loved one in a South Carolina car accident, contact the experienced South Carolina auto accident attorneys at the Steinberg Law Firm. Our attorneys are dedicated to helping our clients get the compensation they need and deserve after a serious accident.
Surviving the aftermath of a serious crash is never easy. Whether you are struggling with serious injuries, facing the loss of a loved one, or both, this is the time you need to focus on your needs and healing. Dealing with insurance companies or fighting for compensation for your losses can feel impossible - especially if you have little experience navigating the legal system.
That’s why we’re here to help. The attorneys at the Steinberg Law Firm focus our efforts on protecting our clients’ legal rights, so our clients can focus on healing. To learn more and schedule a free, confidential consultation, contact our office today.