Dorchester County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 38 deaths in 33 fatal crashes in Dorchester County in 2024.

FARS records 245 deaths in 226 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 15.0 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, Dorchester County was number 13 of 46 counties of South Carolina.

Deaths in Dorchester County rose by 28.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (190) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (245).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 48.4% of the occupants killed in Dorchester County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 53.2% 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 Dorchester 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.Dorchester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	38	33	12
2023	15	15	7
2022	20	19	5
2021	26	22	8
2020	24	22	8
2019	19	18	10
2018	23	23	1 or 2
2017	16	16	8
2016	32	29	7
2015	32	29	12
2015 to 2024	245	226	78

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 38 (2024)2024: 38

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

Table 2.Dorchester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	38	33
2023	15	15
2022	20	19
2021	26	22
2020	24	22
2019	19	18
2018	23	23
2017	16	16
2016	32	29
2015	32	29
2014	16	15
2013	17	16
2012	20	20
2011	15	15
2010	12	10
2009	20	20
2008	24	22
2007	21	18
2006	19	19
2005	26	24
2004	17	15
2003	29	28
2002	35	27
2001	26	23
2000	17	16
1999	18	16
1998	24	21
1997	16	13
1996	19	19
1995	10	10
1994	12	12
1993	16	16
1992	14	13
1991	28	24
1990	28	25
1989	22	21
1988	15	12
1987	21	19
1986	23	17
1985	25	24
1984	20	19
1983	24	21
1982	7	7
1981	26	24
1980	17	14
1979	20	19
1978	17	15
1977	20	17
1976	15	14
1975	15	14

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.Dorchester County beside South Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Dorchester County	South Carolina	United States
2024	21.7	18.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	15.0	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. Dorchester County had 174,839 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Dorchester County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in South Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 226 fatal crashes	78	226 fatal crashes	34.5%	32.2%
A speeding-related driverof 226 fatal crashes	83	226 fatal crashes	36.7%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 161 occupant deaths with restraint use known	78	161 occupant deathswith restraint use known	48.4%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 245 deaths	34	245 deaths	13.9%	15.7%
Bicyclistsof 245 deaths	6	245 deaths	2.4%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 245 deaths	34	245 deaths	13.9%	15.4%
On a rural roadof 226 fatal crashes with the condition reported	140	226 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	61.9%	58.5%
In the darkof 226 fatal crashes with the condition reported	115	226 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.9%	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.Dorchester 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	16	1 or 2	5	16	39
Monday	8	6	10	5	29
Tuesday	5	7	6	6	24
Wednesday	6	10	4	9	29
Thursday	3	5	11	14	33
Friday	9	8	10	7	34
Saturday	12	5	8	13	38
All days	59	43	54	70	226

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.Dorchester County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in South Carolina
Interstate	40	17.7%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.4%	1.6%
Other principal arterial	63	27.9%	31.5%
Minor arterial	93	41.2%	33.9%
Major collector	14	6.2%	11.5%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.9%	1.4%
Local	13	5.8%	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.Dorchester County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	101
Dark, not lighted	73
Dark, lighted	24
Dawn	6
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	18
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Dorchester County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	192
Cloudy	11
Rain	20
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Dorchester County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Dorchester	In all of South Carolina
Interstate 26	Interstate	29	298
Interstate 95	Interstate	11	229
State Route 11	State highway	1 or 2	62
State Route 13	State highway	6	43
State Route 16	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 19	State highway	4	55
State Route 22	State highway	4	50
State Route 30	State highway	1 or 2	25
State Route 35	State highway	1 or 2	25
State Route 39	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 50	State highway	1 or 2	24
State Route 61	State highway	14	68
State Route 62	State highway	12	38
State Route 65	State highway	1 or 2	22
State Route 162	State highway	1 or 2	31
State Route 165	State highway	7	22
State Route 642	State highway	17	53
US Route 15	US highway	8	99
US Route 17	US highway	30	441
US Route 76	US highway	1 or 2	206
US Route 78	US highway	20	66
US Route 178	US highway	4	76

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.Dorchester 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
Dorchester County: 15.0

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 Dorchester County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Berkeley County	South Carolina	37	410	17.7
Charleston County	South Carolina	61	682	16.6
Colleton County	South Carolina	17	215	56.2
Orangeburg County	South Carolina	48	387	45.3

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 Dorchester 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. Dorchester County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/sc/dorchester/. 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.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/sc/dorchester/" title="Fatal crashes in Dorchester County, South Carolina" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/sc/dorchester/">Fatal crashes in Dorchester County, South Carolina</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

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 Dorchester in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 190 deaths in Dorchester County from 2005 to 2014. It records 245 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Dorchester in 2024?

The rate of Dorchester County in 2024 was 21.7 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 Dorchester had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 78 of 226 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 Dorchester?

22 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 177 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.