Lee County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 4 deaths in 4 fatal crashes in Lee County in 2024.

FARS records 64 deaths in 62 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 38.2 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, Lee County was number 38 of 46 counties of South Carolina.

Deaths in Lee County fell by 7.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (69) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (64).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 96.8% of the fatal crashes in Lee 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 Lee 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.Lee County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	4	4	1 or 2
2023	5	5	1 or 2
2022	11	9	4
2021	6	6	1 or 2
2020	6	6	4
2019	5	5	1 or 2
2018	9	9	4
2017	5	5	3
2016	5	5	1 or 2
2015	8	8	5
2015 to 2024	64	62	28

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 16 (2009)2024: 4

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

Table 2.Lee County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	4	4
2023	5	5
2022	11	9
2021	6	6
2020	6	6
2019	5	5
2018	9	9
2017	5	5
2016	5	5
2015	8	8
2014	6	6
2013	4	4
2012	4	4
2011	5	5
2010	4	4
2009	16	14
2008	6	4
2007	7	6
2006	5	5
2005	12	11
2004	10	9
2003	10	10
2002	4	4
2001	8	8
2000	10	10
1999	15	12
1998	13	10
1997	9	7
1996	4	3
1995	9	9
1994	1 or 2	1 or 2
1993	9	8
1992	10	9
1991	9	7
1990	4	4
1989	9	8
1988	9	8
1987	3	3
1986	9	8
1985	4	4
1984	11	9
1983	1 or 2	1 or 2
1982	4	4
1981	4	4
1980	8	7
1979	5	5
1978	8	4
1977	12	12
1976	12	12
1975	10	9

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.Lee County beside South Carolina and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lee County	South Carolina	United States
2024	25.2	18.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	38.2	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. Lee County had 15,873 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lee County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in South Carolina
A driver recorded as drinkingof 62 fatal crashes	28	62 fatal crashes	45.2%	32.2%
A speeding-related driverof 62 fatal crashes	33	62 fatal crashes	53.2%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 46 occupant deaths with restraint use known	23	46 occupant deathswith restraint use known	50.0%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 64 deaths	8	64 deaths	12.5%	15.7%
Bicyclistsof 64 deaths	0	64 deaths	0.0%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 64 deaths	6	64 deaths	9.4%	15.4%
On a rural roadof 62 fatal crashes with the condition reported	60	62 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	96.8%	58.5%
In the darkof 62 fatal crashes with the condition reported	31	62 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.0%	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.Lee 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	1 or 2	3	3	7	14
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	10
Tuesday	0	3	6	0	9
Wednesday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3	5
Thursday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	5
Friday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Saturday	3	0	1 or 2	8	12
All days	9	11	17	25	62

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.Lee County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in South Carolina
Interstate	8	12.9%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	1.6%
Other principal arterial	10	16.1%	31.5%
Minor arterial	23	37.1%	33.9%
Major collector	12	19.4%	11.5%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.6%	1.4%
Local	8	12.9%	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.Lee County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	29
Dark, not lighted	30
Dark, lighted	0
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Lee County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	53
Cloudy	6
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
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 Lee County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lee	In all of South Carolina
Interstate 20	Interstate	8	162
State Route 7	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 13	State highway	1 or 2	43
State Route 14	State highway	1 or 2	53
State Route 21	State highway	1 or 2	40
State Route 29	State highway	1 or 2	44
State Route 31	State highway	1 or 2	54
State Route 33	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 34	State highway	4	98
State Route 44	State highway	1 or 2	22
State Route 50	State highway	1 or 2	24
State Route 52	State highway	1 or 2	28
State Route 107	State highway	1 or 2	29
US Route 15	US highway	4	99
US Route 76	US highway	1 or 2	206

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.Lee 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
Lee County: 38.2

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 Lee County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Darlington County	South Carolina	22	213	32.8
Florence County	South Carolina	28	349	25.3
Kershaw County	South Carolina	10	167	25.0
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 Lee 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. Lee County, South Carolina: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/sc/lee/. 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.

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 Lee in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 69 deaths in Lee County from 2005 to 2014. It records 64 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lee in 2024?

The rate of Lee County in 2024 was 25.2 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 Lee had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 28 of 62 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 Lee?

15 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 32 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.