Fatal Crashes Only
This report covers fatal crashes only, from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System — the federal census of every crash on a US public road that killed someone within 30 days. It does not include injury or property-damage-only crashes, and its totals are not comparable with the all-severity crash reports published elsewhere on this site.
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YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · SOUTH CAROLINA · SEPTEMBER 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
64 CRASHES IN
SOUTH CAROLINA
SEPTEMBER 2023
Fatal crashes in September 2023 decreased by 29.7% compared to September 2022, with 64 fatal crashes recorded this year versus 91 last year. Fatalities also saw a significant reduction, falling from 100 to 72, a 28.0% decrease. A notable shift was observed in fatal crashes involving driving under the influence, which dropped by 51.4% year-over-year.
64
▼ -29.7%was 91
Total Crash Events
72
▼ -28.0%was 100
Persons Killed
37
▼ -7.5%was 40
Persons Injured
4
▼ -20.0%was 5
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (72) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (64) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Fatal crashes decreased by 29.7% year-over-year, from 91 fatal crashes in September 2022 to 64 fatal crashes in September 2023. Concurrently, the number of fatalities also decreased by 28.0%, from 100 to 72. This indicates a positive downward trend in fatal crash incidents and associated deaths for the period.
4
Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2023
▼ -20.0% vs prior (5)
Fatal hit-and-run crashes decreased from 5 in September 2022 to 4 in September 2023. Despite this, the hit-and-run rate as a percentage of all fatal crashes increased slightly from 5.5% in the prior period to 6.3% in the current period. This indicates that while the absolute number of hit-and-run fatal crashes fell, their proportion relative to all fatal crashes increased.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
15
Pedestrians Killed
1
Cyclists Killed
56
Motorists Killed
0
Pedestrians Injured
0
Cyclists Injured
37
Motorists Injured
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for fatal crashes shifted from Saturday in September 2022, with 19 fatal crashes, to Friday in September 2023, with 16 fatal crashes. The peak hour for fatal crashes remained 8 p.m. in both periods, though the count decreased from 8 fatal crashes in September 2022 to 6 in September 2023. Overall, fatal crashes were more evenly distributed throughout the week in September 2023 compared to the prior year.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Road & Environmental Conditions
Clear weather conditions were associated with 58 fatal crashes in September 2023, a decrease from 80 in September 2022. Fatal crashes occurring in dark, unlighted conditions decreased from 37 in September 2022 to 17 in September 2023, while those in daylight increased from 34 to 37. There were no reported data for road surface conditions in either period.
Weather
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Lighting condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The total number of vehicles involved in fatal crashes decreased from 127 in September 2022 to 97 in September 2023. Chevrolet remained the top make involved in fatal crashes, with 13 vehicles in September 2023 compared to 15 in the prior period. Toyota also saw a decrease, from 14 vehicles in September 2022 to 12 in September 2023.
Top Vehicle Makes (97 vehicles)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
1 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (150 persons with recorded sex)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Fatal crashes in the 45 mph speed zone decreased from 29 in September 2022 to 22 in September 2023. Similarly, fatal crashes in the 55 mph zone dropped from 25 to 14 year-over-year. The number of fatal crashes in the 70 mph speed zone remained constant at 5 for both periods.
Fatal crashes by zone: 20 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 25 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 30 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 35 mph: 11 of 11 (100%) · 40 mph: 2 of 2 (100%) · 45 mph: 22 of 22 (100%) · 50 mph: 2 of 2 (100%) · 55 mph: 14 of 14 (100%) · 60 mph: 4 of 4 (100%) · 65 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 70 mph: 5 of 5 (100%)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Posted speed limit at crash location
Manner of Collision
The dominant manner of collision in both periods was 'The First Harmful Event was Not a Collision with a Motor Vehicle in Transport', decreasing from 58 fatal crashes in September 2022 to 35 in September 2023. Angle collisions also decreased from 21 to 14 fatal crashes year-over-year. Conversely, Front-to-Rear collisions increased from 3 fatal crashes in the prior period to 6 in the current period.
Manner of Collision
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Vehicle Type
The most common vehicle body type in fatal crashes was '4-door sedan, hardtop', decreasing from 32 in September 2022 to 24 in September 2023. Fatal crashes involving 'Two Wheel Motorcycle' decreased from 14 to 10 year-over-year, while 'Truck-tractor' involvement slightly increased from 7 to 8. 'Light Pickup' involvement also saw a notable decrease from 31 to 10.
Vehicle Type
Showing top 9 of 17 reported. 8 additional (13 total) not shown: 5-door/4-door hatchback, Minivan (Chrysler Town and Country, Caravan, Grand Caravan, Voyager, Voyager, Honda-Odyssey, ...), Convertible(excludes sun-roof,t-bar), Moped, Step van (GVWR greater than 10,000 lbs.), Single-unit straight truck or Cab-Chassis (GVWR greater than 26,000 lbs.), Motor Scooter, Unknown body type.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Rural vs Urban
Fatal crashes on rural trafficways decreased from 55 in September 2022 to 36 in September 2023, while urban fatal crashes decreased from 36 to 28. In September 2023, rural fatal crashes (36) still outnumbered urban fatal crashes (28), comprising 56.3% of all fatal crashes. This indicates that rural roads continue to account for a larger share of fatal crashes.
Rural vs Urban
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Functional Class
In September 2023, 'Other Principal Arterial' roads accounted for the most fatal crashes with 19, a decrease from 31 in the prior year. 'Major Collector' roads also saw a decrease from 24 to 13 fatal crashes. Interstate fatal crashes, however, increased from 6 in September 2022 to 9 in September 2023.
Roadway Functional Class
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Ownership
State Highway Agencies were associated with the majority of fatal crashes in both periods, though the count decreased from 88 in September 2022 to 60 in September 2023. Fatal crashes on roads owned by County Highway Agencies saw a slight increase from 3 to 4 year-over-year. This indicates that state-maintained roads continue to have the highest number of fatal crashes.
Roadway Ownership
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Type
Drivers were the most frequently involved person type in fatal crashes, decreasing from 127 in September 2022 to 97 in September 2023. The number of pedestrians involved in fatal crashes decreased slightly from 16 to 15, and bicyclists decreased from 3 to 1. Passengers involved in fatal crashes also saw a reduction from 52 to 36.
Person Type
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Injury Severity
The number of fatal injuries decreased from 100 in September 2022 to 72 in September 2023. Total injured persons (serious, minor, possible) decreased from 40 to 37 year-over-year. This shows a reduction across both fatal and non-fatal injury severities among persons involved in these fatal crash events.
Person Injury Severity
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Occupant Safety Equipment
The number of persons recorded using 'Shoulder and Lap Belt Used' decreased slightly from 96 in September 2022 to 93 in September 2023. A notable decrease was observed in persons for whom 'None Used/Not Applicable' was recorded, falling from 70 to 37. This suggests a decrease in instances of non-use of safety equipment among those involved in fatal crashes.
Occupant Safety Equipment
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Point of Impact
The '12 Clock Point' (front impact) remained the dominant point of impact, decreasing from 89 occurrences in September 2022 to 67 in September 2023. Impacts at the '3 Clock Point' (right side) decreased from 14 to 8, and at the '9 Clock Point' (left side) decreased from 10 to 7. All major points of impact saw a reduction in occurrences.
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 1 smaller categories (1 records): Reported as Unknown (1).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Vehicles Per Crash
Single-vehicle fatal crashes saw a significant decrease from 54 in September 2022 to 29 in September 2023. Two-vehicle fatal crashes also decreased from 36 to 32 year-over-year. There was a slight increase in fatal crashes involving three vehicles (from 1 to 2) and four vehicles (from 0 to 1).
Vehicles Per Crash
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Data Sources & Methodology
Primary Data Source
All crash data in this report is sourced from NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), accessed programmatically via the NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.
Data Retrieval
- Access method: NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SoQL queries)
- Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
- Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
- Date filter applied: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30
- Report generated: August 5, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30 (30 days)
- Geographic scope: South Carolina
- Total crash records analyzed: 64
- Total persons involved: 151
- Total vehicles involved: 97
Analytical Methodology
- Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
- Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
- Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
- Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
- Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
- Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
- AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.
Limitations & Disclaimers
- Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
- Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
- Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
- AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
- Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.
Non-Affiliation Disclosure
This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.
Data License
The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.
Corrections & Feedback
If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.
Suggested Citation
ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "South Carolina Crash Intelligence Report: September 2023." Published August 5, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30. Data source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), NHTSA FARS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/south-carolina/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
About the Publisher
ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.
Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · NHTSA FARS
Period: 2023-09-01 – 2023-09-30
Generated: August 5, 2026 · All rights reserved
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