SC boating accidents, fatalities trend up last 5 years. See which counties are deadliest

Ready to get out on the water yet?

Spring is back and as the weather warms, more recreational boaters will return to South Carolina’s waters, be it for cruising with family and friends, a little relaxing fishing or both. And South Carolina just has so many boating spots to pick.

With 8,000 miles of rivers, 460,000 acres of lakes and 3,000 miles of coastline, the Palmetto State has an abundance of water resources for residents and visitors.

According to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the state currently has more than 360,000 recreational motorboats and personal watercraft registered with the state, thousands of which have been added annually. But with so many boaters, the greater chances there can be for accidents and fatalities.

Statistics from SCDNR show a general rise in boating-related accidents and fatalities in the state over the last five years.

There were 22 recreational boating fatalities in the state in 2022, up from 15 deaths in 2018. Also, there were a total of 170 boating accidents in 2022, up from 142 in 2018. Below is a graph of all the recreational boating deaths and accidents over the last five years in the state.

Deaths in SC counties

What about fatalities in each county? Turns out that over the last five years, some counties had far more boating deaths than others. Here are the five counties with the most total boating deaths over the last five years.

Causes of SC boating deaths/accidents

What are the reasons or causes for most of the boating accidents and fatalities in the state, you may ask? According to SCDNR, the main causes are not always the same from year to year.

Below is a breakdown of the causes of boating deaths and accidents in the state over the last five years.

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

Patrick McCreless

The State

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Patrick McCreless is the Southeast service journalism editor for McClatchy, who leads and edits a team of six reporters in South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi. The team writes about trending news of the day and topics that help readers in their daily lives and better informs them about their communities. He attended Jacksonville State University in Alabama and grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL.