South Carolina Ranked 3rd Worst State for Dangerous Roads in Latest Study

Wall Street 24/7 has released its latest study of United States Roadways, ranking the safest and most unsafe by state.  Coming in as the safest state is Rhode Island with Mississippi coming in as the worst.  Six of the top ten worst regionally fall in the Southeast with South Carolina coming in this year’s survey as the 3rd worst state for roadway safety.

Here is how the Top 10 in both categories ranked.

Top 10 Most Dangerous Roads

10. Louisiana
> Road deaths per 100,000: 16.2
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 757 (19th most)
> Seat belt use: 88%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Martin Luther King’s Birthday (14 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 49%

9. Oklahoma
> Road deaths per 100,000: 17.4
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 683 (21st most)
> Seat belt use: 87%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Labor Day (8 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 62%

8. Montana
> Road deaths per 100,000: 18.2
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 190 (11th least)
> Seat belt use: 76%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Labor Day (4 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 89%

7. Arkansas
> Road deaths per 100,000: 18.2
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 545 (25th most)
> Seat belt use: 75%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Memorial Day (9 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 66%

6. Kentucky
> Road deaths per 100,000: 18.8
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 834 (16th most)
> Seat belt use: 87%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Columbus Day (11 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 73%

5. Wyoming
> Road deaths per 100,000: 19.1
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 112 (4th least)
> Seat belt use: 81%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Columbus Day (2 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 81%

4. New Mexico
> Road deaths per 100,000: 19.3
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 402 (20th least)
> Seat belt use: 92%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Columbus Day (10 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 56%

3. South Carolina
> Road deaths per 100,000: 20.5
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 1,015 (13th most)
> Seat belt use: 94%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Martin Luther King’s Birthday (16 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 60%

2. Alabama
> Road deaths per 100,000: 21.3
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 1,038 (11th most)
> Seat belt use: 92%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Columbus Day (18 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 62%

1. Mississippi
> Road deaths per 100,000: 23.1
> 2016 roadway fatalities: 690 (20th most)
> Seat belt use: 78%
> Deadliest holiday in 2016: Independence Day (11 fatal crashes)
> Fatal crashes on rural roads: 98%

Top 10 Safest

1. Rhode Island
2. New York
3. Massachusetts
4. New Jersey
5. Minnesota
6. Washington
7. Connecticut
8. Maryland
9. Hawaii
10. Illinois

Note:  9 of the top 10 Safest are Northern States

Methodology

To rank the safest and most dangerous states to drive in the United States, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed roadway fatality data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety along with urban and rural travel data from the Federal Highway Administration, each for 2016. The number of fatal roadway deaths was then adjusted for the population, noted as fatalities per 100,000 residents. Seat belt use rates and the share of fatal accidents on rural roads are also from IIHS and are all for 2016. Fatal injuries due to vehicle accidents include pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. Data on holiday deaths are for 2016 and came from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.