Berkeley County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics

Counties of South Carolina by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 37 deaths in 37 fatal crashes in Berkeley County in 2024.

FARS records 410 deaths in 386 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 17.7 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of South Carolina in the same years is 20.3.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Berkeley County was number 8 of 46 counties of South Carolina.

Deaths in Berkeley County rose by 9.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (375) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (410).

In the counties of South Carolina the deaths rose by 14.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 58.5% of the fatal crashes in Berkeley County with known light were in the dark, against 51.8% in South Carolina.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.
The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.
NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on 1 Apr 2026. NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Deaths in Berkeley County by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this county has a change on record.

Deaths and fatal crashes by year

Table 1.Berkeley County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	37	37	15
2023	61	58	20
2022	49	46	13
2021	33	32	12
2020	60	49	18
2019	32	29	6
2018	34	34	13
2017	34	33	11
2016	34	33	10
2015	36	35	9
2015 to 2024	410	386	127

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in Berkeley County by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 61 (2023)2024: 37

The columns with a stronger shade are the years 2015 to 2024.

Table 2.Berkeley County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	37	37
2023	61	58
2022	49	46
2021	33	32
2020	60	49
2019	32	29
2018	34	34
2017	34	33
2016	34	33
2015	36	35
2014	40	37
2013	27	24
2012	33	29
2011	34	31
2010	30	28
2009	42	38
2008	40	36
2007	30	28
2006	46	43
2005	53	42
2004	33	30
2003	35	32
2002	39	35
2001	31	29
2000	32	29
1999	30	28
1998	38	33
1997	40	40
1996	38	31
1995	34	32
1994	20	17
1993	26	23
1992	23	21
1991	22	21
1990	44	39
1989	26	26
1988	44	37
1987	24	23
1986	31	27
1985	42	37
1984	32	28
1983	27	26
1982	24	22
1981	35	34
1980	23	20
1979	24	22
1978	28	25
1977	30	25
1976	40	32
1975	17	16

Note: a count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2". A death is in FARS when it occurs in 30 days or less after the crash.

Rate for each 100,000 residents

Table 3.Berkeley County beside South Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Berkeley County	South Carolina	United States
2024	13.9	18.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	17.7	20.3	11.8

Note: the rate divides the deaths in the county by its residents. Persons who do not live in the county are in the deaths, not in the residents.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Berkeley County had 265,992 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Berkeley County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in South Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 386 fatal crashes	127	386 fatal crashes	32.9%	32.2%
A speeding-related driverof 386 fatal crashes	155	386 fatal crashes	40.2%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 255 occupant deaths with restraint use known	135	255 occupant deathswith restraint use known	52.9%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 410 deaths	73	410 deaths	17.8%	15.7%
Bicyclistsof 410 deaths	8	410 deaths	2.0%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 410 deaths	63	410 deaths	15.4%	15.4%
On a rural roadof 386 fatal crashes with the condition reported	237	386 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	61.4%	58.5%
In the darkof 386 fatal crashes with the condition reported	226	386 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	58.5%	51.8%

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure, which uses a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. One crash can be in two or more rows. NHTSA's definitions

Note that alcohol data is often missing. For that reason, this data element may under-count the actual number of drinking drivers.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Weekday, time and road class

Table 5.Berkeley County: fatal crashes by weekday and time of day, 2015 to 2024
Weekday	Midnight to 6 a.m.	6 a.m. to noon	Noon to 6 p.m.	6 p.m. to midnight	All
Sunday	25	12	7	19	63
Monday	8	7	12	21	48
Tuesday	6	9	10	19	44
Wednesday	10	11	12	19	52
Thursday	9	6	12	24	51
Friday	8	9	11	24	52
Saturday	20	10	14	32	76
All days	86	64	78	158	386

Note: a cell with a stronger shade has a larger count. The table has the fatal crashes with a known hour and weekday.

Table 6.Berkeley County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in South Carolina
Interstate	37	9.6%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.3%	1.6%
Other principal arterial	125	32.4%	31.5%
Minor arterial	143	37.0%	33.9%
Major collector	47	12.2%	11.5%
Minor collector	4	1.0%	1.4%
Local	29	7.5%	9.4%
Not reported	0	n/a	n/a

Note: the classes are those of the Federal Highway Administration. The shares are of the crashes with a reported class. Road function classes

Light condition and weather

Table 7.Berkeley County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	133
Dark, not lighted	165
Dark, lighted	45
Dawn	15
Dusk	12
Dark, lighting unknown	16
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Berkeley County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	332
Cloudy	19
Rain	32
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Berkeley County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Berkeley	In all of South Carolina
Interstate 26	Interstate	34	298
State Route 6	State highway	15	83
State Route 9	State highway	5	150
State Route 16	State highway	5	23
State Route 18	State highway	1 or 2	24
State Route 29	State highway	14	44
State Route 33	State highway	5	34
State Route 34	State highway	1 or 2	98
State Route 35	State highway	4	25
State Route 41	State highway	12	68
State Route 42	State highway	1 or 2	21
State Route 43	State highway	1 or 2	22
State Route 45	State highway	8	31
State Route 48	State highway	1 or 2	38
State Route 52	State highway	1 or 2	28
State Route 61	State highway	3	68
State Route 62	State highway	18	38
State Route 101	State highway	1 or 2	41
State Route 135	State highway	3	23
US Route 17	US highway	54	441
US Route 52	US highway	43	180
US Route 176	US highway	32	134

Note: the table has each route with a page that has a fatal crash in the county, in name order. Local streets and county roads have no page. Their crashes are in the county totals. All routes in South Carolina

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.Berkeley County on the county map of South Carolina

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 100 counties
10 to 14.93 counties
15 to 19.913 counties
20 to 29.913 counties
30 or more17 counties
Berkeley County: 17.7

The limits of the classes are the same for every state. A county with few residents can show a high rate from few deaths. A class is not a judgement of a county. The full map and the table of counties of South Carolina

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Berkeley County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Charleston County	South Carolina	61	682	16.6
Clarendon County	South Carolina	9	146	44.9
Dorchester County	South Carolina	38	245	15.0
Georgetown County	South Carolina	20	150	23.6
Orangeburg County	South Carolina	48	387	45.3
Williamsburg County	South Carolina	9	114	37.0

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of South Carolina have a population nearest to that of Berkeley County. The list is for navigation and is in name order. The number is the deaths from 2015 to 2024.

Official channels

NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)NHTSA's query tool for FARS counts.
NHTSA FARS EncyclopediaNHTSA's tables of FARS data.
Governors Highway Safety Association: State Highway Safety OfficesThe list of the highway safety offices of the states.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Berkeley County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/sc/berkeley/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

The address of this page does not change.

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Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 1975 to 2024. The factors use the vehicle and person files from 2015. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Map: Census Bureau cartographic boundary file, 2021 edition. Data to 31 Dec 2024. The figures are totals. No page of this site is about one crash or one person.

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

How many deaths did FARS record in Berkeley in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 375 deaths in Berkeley County from 2005 to 2014. It records 410 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Berkeley in 2024?

The rate of Berkeley County in 2024 was 13.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of South Carolina was 18.9. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in Berkeley had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 127 of 386 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. This count is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. NHTSA says that alcohol data is often missing, so the count may be too low.

How many fatal crashes did FARS record on signed routes in Berkeley?

22 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 264 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.