Tell us something we don’t know: SC has worst roads in America, report says
We know it: Driving here is the pits.
And now, a company has confirmed it. South Carolina’s roads rank worst in the country, according to a study by the for-profit company Consumer Affairs.
The firm, a consumer news and resource center, researched how much money each state spent per mile of publicly owned road, the number of fatal crashes per mile within state lines, consumer reviews of roads, and the percentage of roads rated “good” and “poor” by the Federal Highway Administration, the study said.
Those factors combined weren’t so peachy for South Carolina, which was worst of the worst, followed by Louisiana, Hawaii, Rhode Island and Delaware.
According to the study, South Carolina spends $26 per mile on roads, compared with $47 per-mile average across the country calculated by The Island Packet.
While the study doesn’t include the number of fatal crashes, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety lists 776 so far in 2019.
In 2018, there were 845 fatal crashes on South Carolina roads. In 2017, the average number of fatal crashes per state was 684, according to the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Fatal crashes don’t necessarily reflect how many people have died on state roads, because a fatal crash can involve more than one death.
The process of giving weights to factors is a somewhat subjective process, according to ConsumerAffairs Vice President of Data and Analytics George Earl. To rank road quality, he said, the firm concluded that fatalities per mile were a more important factor than dollars spent per mile, for example.
“We also assumed that each state’s survey results are a representative sample across that state, which creates a small potential for biases,” Earl said. “Even though each state has the same influence on the results, one respondent in a smaller state has greater influence than one respondent in a larger state.”
The other factors the study considered helped to pull down South Carolina’s ranking.
The Federal Highway Administration ranks 18% of South Carolina roads as “poor,” while 35% are considered “good.”
That compares to the national average, which The Island Packet calculated — 19% of roads rated “poor” and 41% of roads rated “good.” Those ratings are determined by roughness and maintenance, according to the bureau of transportation statistics.
The state of South Carolina has one of the largest state-maintained road systems in the country with 41,000 miles, according to the S.C. Department of Transportation.
But Consumer Affairs used data from all 77,364 miles of public roads in the state, according to the study, including roads maintained by localities.
Consumers who were consulted for the study called South Carolina “pothole city” — and inadequate to handle the number of cars traveling in and to the state each year.
Can we get better?
The study offers one reason for hope.
“There appears to be some progress. ...South Carolina increased taxes on gasoline by 4%, which has generated more than $149 million for state road improvements, including resurfacing projects,” the study said of the 2017 tax increase, which went into effect July 4, 2019.
Hey, we can’t all be Wyoming, the state listed as having the best roads in the country. The highway administration said 65% of that state’s roads are in “good” condition.
Also in the winners’ circle (top five states for roads): Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana.
Maybe next year.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Tell us something we don’t know: SC has worst roads in America, report says."
