Kershaw County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 10 deaths in 10 fatal crashes in Kershaw County in 2024.

FARS records 167 deaths in 152 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 25.0 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, Kershaw County was number 21 of 46 counties of South Carolina.

Deaths in Kershaw County rose by 12.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (149) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (167).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 80.3% of the fatal crashes in Kershaw County with a known setting were rural, against 58.5% 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 Kershaw 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.Kershaw County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	10	10	3
2023	11	10	1 or 2
2022	17	15	10
2021	24	24	10
2020	18	15	7
2019	15	14	4
2018	17	14	3
2017	19	19	6
2016	18	16	8
2015	18	15	4
2015 to 2024	167	152	57

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 25 (1986)2024: 10

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

Table 2.Kershaw County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	10	10
2023	11	10
2022	17	15
2021	24	24
2020	18	15
2019	15	14
2018	17	14
2017	19	19
2016	18	16
2015	18	15
2014	13	11
2013	17	16
2012	13	11
2011	10	10
2010	14	14
2009	18	18
2008	11	9
2007	23	21
2006	13	12
2005	17	15
2004	17	16
2003	20	18
2002	22	19
2001	12	11
2000	20	18
1999	13	13
1998	17	16
1997	10	8
1996	17	16
1995	11	10
1994	9	8
1993	11	9
1992	8	8
1991	13	12
1990	12	11
1989	14	14
1988	12	10
1987	15	14
1986	25	21
1985	11	11
1984	14	11
1983	12	11
1982	9	7
1981	11	10
1980	12	8
1979	12	9
1978	9	8
1977	5	5
1976	14	13
1975	12	12

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.Kershaw County beside South Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Kershaw County	South Carolina	United States
2024	13.9	18.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	25.0	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. Kershaw County had 71,912 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Kershaw County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in South Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 152 fatal crashes	57	152 fatal crashes	37.5%	32.2%
A speeding-related driverof 152 fatal crashes	71	152 fatal crashes	46.7%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 113 occupant deaths with restraint use known	58	113 occupant deathswith restraint use known	51.3%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 167 deaths	16	167 deaths	9.6%	15.7%
Bicyclistsof 167 deaths	0	167 deaths	0.0%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 167 deaths	33	167 deaths	19.8%	15.4%
On a rural roadof 152 fatal crashes with the condition reported	122	152 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	80.3%	58.5%
In the darkof 152 fatal crashes with the condition reported	73	152 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	48.0%	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.Kershaw 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	8	5	5	8	26
Monday	1 or 2	4	4	3	13
Tuesday	0	11	5	5	21
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	3	10
Thursday	6	3	4	8	21
Friday	5	3	11	10	29
Saturday	8	1 or 2	9	13	32
All days	31	30	41	50	152

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.Kershaw County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in South Carolina
Interstate	26	17.1%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	1.6%
Other principal arterial	48	31.6%	31.5%
Minor arterial	47	30.9%	33.9%
Major collector	19	12.5%	11.5%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.3%	1.4%
Local	10	6.6%	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.Kershaw County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	73
Dark, not lighted	61
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	4
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	8
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Kershaw County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	124
Cloudy	16
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Kershaw County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Kershaw	In all of South Carolina
Interstate 20	Interstate	26	162
State Route 5	State highway	1 or 2	45
State Route 12	State highway	4	31
State Route 18	State highway	1 or 2	24
State Route 19	State highway	1 or 2	55
State Route 20	State highway	4	74
State Route 21	State highway	3	40
State Route 34	State highway	14	98
State Route 42	State highway	1 or 2	21
State Route 46	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 48	State highway	1 or 2	38
State Route 53	State highway	1 or 2	32
State Route 97	State highway	3	29
State Route 101	State highway	1 or 2	41
State Route 261	State highway	1 or 2	27
US Route 1	US highway	24	135
US Route 301	US highway	1 or 2	85
US Route 521	US highway	10	75
US Route 601	US highway	3	49

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.Kershaw 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
Kershaw County: 25.0

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 Kershaw County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Chesterfield County	South Carolina	10	118	26.3
Darlington County	South Carolina	22	213	32.8
Fairfield County	South Carolina	10	113	52.3
Lancaster County	South Carolina	20	167	17.0
Lee County	South Carolina	4	64	38.2
Richland County	South Carolina	63	585	14.0
Sumter County	South Carolina	23	234	22.1

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 Kershaw 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. Kershaw County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/sc/kershaw/. 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 Kershaw in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 149 deaths in Kershaw County from 2005 to 2014. It records 167 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Kershaw in 2024?

The rate of Kershaw 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 Kershaw had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 57 of 152 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 Kershaw?

19 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 105 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.