4 Points Back. “South Carolina’s Crash Clock.” 4pointsback.com. Last updated July 22, 2026. https://4pointsback.com/south-carolina-driving-statistics/crash-clock/
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One person is killed on a South Carolina road every 8.4 hours — and one traffic collision of any kind happens every 3.6 minutes.
This South Carolina crash clock rebuilds SCDPS’s own signature statistical format — the most-quoted style in South Carolina road safety reporting — using the most current finalized data available (2023), plus a three-year trend so you can see exactly which categories are improving and which are getting worse.
Quick Facts
These are the numbers behind South Carolina’s crash clock right now:
- In 2023, South Carolina averaged one traffic death every 8.4 hours — an improvement from one every 7.9 hours in 2021.
- A person is injured in an SC traffic collision every 10.2 minutes.
- A South Carolina teen driver (15–19) is involved in a fatal or injury collision every 1.5 hours.
- The bicyclist-fatality interval has gotten shorter three years running (15.9 → 14.6 → 14 days) — the one major category trending the wrong direction.
- The DUI collision-fatality interval improved sharply from 18.5 hours (2022) to 21.2 hours (2023), though it remains the single most dangerous everyday risk on this list by volume.
South Carolina’s 2023 Crash Clock
The most current finalized statistics available, in SCDPS’s own “one X every Y” format.
Source: SCDPS South Carolina Traffic Collision Fact Book, 2023 Edition (most current available; the DUI figure is preliminary NHTSA data as noted by SCDPS itself).
Is South Carolina’s Crash Clock Getting Better or Worse? A 3-Year Trend
SCDPS has published this exact clock format every year since well before 2021. Comparing the three most recent editions of the crash clock shows which categories are genuinely improving — and which aren’t, despite the statewide decline in total traffic deaths.
South Carolina’s Crash Clock by County
Where we’ve independently confirmed a county’s exact 5-year total from its official SCDPS document, the calculated interval is shown and highlighted in gold. For every other county, we link directly to that county’s official source so the same calculation can be verified or performed by anyone.
| County | 5-Yr Total Deaths (FFY20–24) | Calculated: One Death Every… | Official Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeville | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Aiken | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Allendale | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Anderson | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Bamberg | 14 | 4.3 months | Source ↗ |
| Barnwell | 26 | 2.3 months | Source ↗ |
| Beaufort | 114 | 16.0 days | Source ↗ |
| Berkeley | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Calhoun | 27 | 2.2 months | Source ↗ |
| Charleston | 353 | 5.2 days | Source ↗ |
| Cherokee | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Chester | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Chesterfield | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Clarendon | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Colleton | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Darlington | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Dillon | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Dorchester | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Edgefield | 29 | 2.1 months | Source ↗ |
| Fairfield | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Florence | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Georgetown | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Greenville | 436 | 4.2 days | Source ↗ |
| Greenwood | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Hampton | 41 | 1.5 months | Source ↗ |
| Horry | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Jasper | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Kershaw | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Lancaster | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Laurens | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Lee | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Lexington | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Marion | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Marlboro | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| McCormick | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Newberry | 61 | 29.9 days | Source ↗ |
| Oconee | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Orangeburg | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Pickens | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Richland | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Saluda | 27 | 2.2 months | Source ↗ |
| Spartanburg | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Sumter | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Union | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| Williamsburg | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
| York | Calculate from official 5-year data at source | Source ↗ | |
Every one of these crashes starts with a driving decision. If you already have points on your South Carolina license, our 8-hour 4 point reduction course can remove up to four points for eligible drivers.
A Note on Our South Carolina Crash Clock Methodology
This South Carolina crash clock is rebuilt directly from SCDPS’s own annual Traffic Collision Fact Book, which has published a “collision clock” in this exact format for years. As of this writing, the 2023 Edition (published May 2025) is the most recent available — SCDPS had not yet released a 2024 edition. We will update this page immediately when a newer edition is published. The DUI .08+ figure is explicitly labeled “Preliminary NHTSA Data” by SCDPS itself in the source document, meaning it may be revised in a future edition; we’ve preserved that caveat here rather than presenting it as final.
Jump to: Quick Facts · 2023 Crash Clock · 3-Year Trend · County Clock · Methodology
The crash clock shows how often SC drivers are affected. A live South Carolina defensive driving course is one of the simplest ways to sharpen your skills and lower your own risk.