2016 traffic deaths spike more than 50 percent in Richland County

As traffic fatalities in South Carolina dropped slightly in 2016, the number of people killed on Richland County roadways rose to 68, an increase of more than 50 percent.

There were 975 people killed on the state’s roads last year, down from the 979 the year before, the S.C. Department of Public Safety reports. The numbers reflect motor vehicle crashes, motorcycle crashes and pedestrian collisions.

While five fewer people died in Lexington County wrecks, Richland County’s death toll was up by 23 from the 45 who died in 2015.

“This is horrible. Horrible,” Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said. “You’re looking at 68 families, usually more than that ... that lose someone, either a loved one or a friend.”

Such a sharp spike in fatalities in one year is unusual, he said.

Distracted driving, particularly, is becoming more common in fatal crashes, state and local authorities agree.

“It’s really easy to say, ‘I’m gonna glance down and send a text and tell them I’m on my way,’ ” Watts said. “People next to you (in traffic) are on their phone, they’re texting, they’re reading texts, texting and driving with their knees.”

Statewide, pedestrian fatalities increased from 125 in 2015 to 137 in 2016, according to figures from the state agency. That includes an increase in the city of Columbia, though Watts’ office didn’t have numbers immediately available.

Numbers mean little to those who haven’t witnessed the devastation firsthand, said Watts, who has made hundreds of death notifications to families of people killed in crashes.

“People look at these things and say, ‘Those are big numbers,’” he said. “Dealing with the personal side and the families that are destroyed because of this, it’s really, really disturbing.”

Some of the leading factors in fatal crashes in South Carolina continue to be speed, impaired driving, lack of seat belt use and distracted driving, troopers say. Minor things like buckling up can make the biggest difference in curbing traffic deaths, the Highway Patrol’s Lance Cpl. David Jones said.

“More South Carolinians wear seat belts than ever,” he said. “However, half our fatality rates and half the people in motor vehicles chose not to wear them.” Of the 635 vehicle occupants killed in 2016, 322 weren’t wearing seat belts, according to troopers.

“Somebody said at the coroner’s office, ‘We don’t cut people out of seat belts,’ ” Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said . “Usually in a traffic accident, if they’re not wearing their seat belt, we know it.”

Lexington County traffic deaths decreased to 41 in 2016 from 46 the year before, a reduction Fisher said was lower than she expected. By contrast, six people died on the county’s roads just in the month of January 2015, she said.

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This story was originally published January 8, 2017 at 7:41 PM with the headline "2016 traffic deaths spike more than 50 percent in Richland County."