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by WILL FOLKS
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Traffic deaths – and fatal collisions – are down precipitously in 2025 in South Carolina, according to preliminary data compiled by the S.C. Department of Public Safety (SCDPS).
According to the numbers, as of last Friday (December 5, 2025), a total of 815 people had been killed on Palmetto State’s roadways. That’s well below 2024’s total of 963 persons killed – although there are still three-and-a-half weeks left in the year (and those are among the busiest weeks of the year in terms of vehicle miles traveled).
Fatal collisions have also declined steeply, falling from 883 during the entirety of 2024 to 765 so far this year.
If the numbers hold, 2025 would mark the fourth consecutive year of declining fatal collisions and roadway deaths… which would be welcome news following several years of steady increases.
For a visual look at the last few years of data, here’s a graph courtesy of our intrepid researcher, Jenn Wood…
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Statistics on fatal collisions and roadway deaths typically climb by anywhere from 3% to 8% once the final numbers are tabulated, but that’s not expected to impact the prevailing downward trend – which SCDPS officials have attributed in part to their “increased patrols” on Palmetto State interstates.
From 2017-2021, South Carolina saw significant upticks in driver fatalities – which climbed by 21.39%, according to SCDPS data (.pdf) provided to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“The increases in South Carolina surpassed those of the (rest of the) nation,” SCDPS concluded.
Among the factors fueling the increase during that time period was a 31.48% surge in “alcohol-impaired driving fatalities.” Alcohol was a factor in 33.47% of total traffic fatalities in South Carolina in 2021 – the year traffic deaths peaked in the Palmetto State.
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South Carolina isn’t alone in seeing a significant decline in roadway deaths this year. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), the nationwide traffic fatality rate was down 13.5% during the first six months of 2025 – even as Americans drove 0.8% more miles.
So how is it that people are driving more yet experiencing fewer fatal crashes?
According to the latest data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), American motorists drove 290 billion miles in October of this year – up 0.6% from October 2024. For the year, motorists are expected to log 2.78 trillion miles – an increases of 1% from 2024.
We’ve heard several theories as to why traffic fatalities have declined amidst a surge in vehicular traffic, but we’re waiting on the final numbers to be published before we reach out to SCDPS and other sources to begin assessing causation.
Count on FITSNews to dig deep into the final 2025 data and present our findings in future reports…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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