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by ERIN PARROTT
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A new national safety analysis from a midwestern law firm underscored a troubling – and all-too-familiar – reality for Palmetto State drivers: South Carolina remains one of the most dangerous places in America to operate a motor vehicle.
According to a composite crash-risk index built from federal highway fatality data between 2019 and 2023, South Carolina ranked second in the nation with a score of 78 out of 100, trailing only New Mexico – which had a score of 89 out of 100.
The driving force behind our deadly roads? Alcohol.
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RELATED | SOUTH CAROLINA TRAFFIC DEATHS DECLINING
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Researchers with the Beck & Beck law firm in Springfield, Missouri, found South Carolina recorded the highest drunk-driving fatality rate in the United States – 6.92 deaths per 100,000 residents, based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data.
For years, traffic safety has been one of South Carolina’s most persistent public safety failures – a theme FITSNews has repeatedly documented. Even as total traffic deaths recently began declining, certain behavioral factors remained deeply entrenched.
While earlier reporting showed overall fatalities easing somewhat after pandemic-era spikes, the newest data highlighted the extent to which alcohol is responsible for our poor national rankings.
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Each state’s ranking reflects three primary behavioral crash factors:
- Drunk driving: South Carolina (6.92 deaths per 100K)
- Speeding: Wyoming (7.55 deaths per 100K)
- Distracted driving: New Mexico (7.24 deaths per 100K)
Unlike western states where vast highways and speed dominate crash risk, South Carolina’s danger profile is more behavioral and preventable.
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.
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As we previously reported, 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.
Over the past four years, though, fatal collisions and total highway deaths have declined precipitously – falling to their lowest levels in more than a decade. As long as impaired driving remains widespread, though, safety gains can quickly reverse – particularly during holidays, weekends and high-tourism seasons when alcohol-related crashes spike.
South Carolina’s roads aren’t deadly simply because of poor infrastructure, a preponderance of rural highways or population growth. They’re deadly because of bad decisions.
Until drunk driving declines, the Palmetto State’s place near the top of America’s most dangerous driving rankings is unlikely to change… and our recent streak of good luck could come to a crashing halt.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Erin Parrott is a Greenville, S.C. native who graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2025 with a bachelor degree in broadcast journalism. Got feedback or a tip for Erin? Email her here.
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6 comments
Oh goodness, another number one ranking to add to the recent number one in measles. But can you really expect a people who care so little for their own safety and that of their fellow citizens to refuse a measles vaccination to not exhibit the same benighted thinking regarding drinking and driving?
Where ya from, boy: Ohio?
Over 75% of your state of sc, residents are not true natives. Recent transplants not even from SC. Many drive to work each morning with alchohol and illegal drugs in their system.
Anonymous, is this supposed to make sense: “Recent transplants not even from SC.”? (If they are transplants, by definition they obviously are not from S.C.) And check your figures, 48% of SC residents are not true natives, not 75%. And where did you come up with the fact that “many” of these “drive to work with alcohol and illegal drugs in their system”?
I don’t drink and drive. I rarely drink, but when I do, I do it at home and when I know I don’t have to be out and about for a few hours. That said, I am getting tired of MADD dictating our laws regarding DUI in this state. MADD has had scandals involving its own upper echelon at national conventions, driving while plastered, in bygone years. Cops in Tennessee who were later found to have made DUI arrests on people who were sober, were recipients of MADD “Good Cop” awards for the most DUI cases in their area. Is anyone else getting tired of MADD and their constant bitching and whining as they vye for a piece of that DUI Industry pie. I wish MADD would GTFO of our Legislature and our state. They have outlived any usefulness they might ever have had.
I don’t think they were mentioned in this article, but they have recently pushed for more legislation in SC which like other crap, such as .08% BAC, will change nothing.
I’ll drink to that.