Truck accident statistics for Cherokee County, South Carolina (2020-2024)

Truck accident deaths in Cherokee County by year

Annual truck accident deaths rose from 1 in 2020 to 6 in 2021, fell to 3 in 2022, rose to 7 in 2023 and fell to 4 in 2024. The highest count was 7 in 2023, and the lowest was 1 in 2020. The 2024 count was higher than the 2020 count by 3 deaths.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The truck accident share of all traffic deaths was 8.3% in 2020, 26.1% in 2021, 18.8% in 2022, 50.0% in 2023 and 20.0% in 2024. All traffic deaths numbered 12, 23, 16, 14 and 20 in those respective years. The annual average for truck accident deaths across the period was 4.2.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Deaths within 30 days in crashes on public roads. 2024 figures come from the FARS Annual Report File and can be revised.

Who died in Cherokee County truck accidents

People in other vehicles accounted for 16 truck accident deaths, or 76.2%. People in the large truck accounted for 2 deaths, or 9.5%. The row labeled "Pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside vehicles" recorded 3 deaths, or 14.3%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

That quoted label represents the FARS nonoccupant grouping, including pedestrians, pedalcyclists and other or unknown nonoccupants. The other category can include occupants of vehicles not in transport, such as parked vehicles. It is not a literal test of whether someone was outside a vehicle. People in other vehicles were the largest category.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

The trucks involved

The vehicle records identify 25 large trucks in fatal crashes in Cherokee County during 2020 through 2024. Truck-tractors, described in the table as semi or tractor-trailer units, numbered 18 and represented 72.0% of those large trucks. Single-unit and other large trucks numbered 7. Large trucks recorded as jackknifed numbered 0.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

These are vehicle counts for truck accidents, distinct from the 17 fatal crashes and 21 deaths. A crash can involve multiple large trucks, so the trucks table does not assign a separate crash or death to each truck counted.^{[1][2][3][4][5][8][7]}

Counts are trucks, not crashes. One crash can involve more than one large truck.

How the fatal truck crashes happened

Manner of collision describes the first harmful event. Rear-end truck accidents accounted for 9 deaths, or 42.9%; angle (side impact) and head-on each recorded 2, or 9.5%; sideswipe recorded 1, or 4.8%.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

"Not a collision with another moving vehicle" recorded 7 deaths, or 33.3%. It means no collision with a motor vehicle in transport, including events such as rollovers or striking a pedestrian, cyclist, parked vehicle or fixed object. Vehicles in transport can be stopped in traffic.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Separately, crash configuration assigns 3 deaths, or 14.3%, to single-vehicle crashes; 9, or 42.9%, to two-vehicle crashes; and 9, or 42.9%, to crashes involving three or more vehicles.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Interstates, time of day and setting

Interstate truck accident deaths numbered 13, or 61.9%. The listed route-coded count for I-85 was 13 deaths. Interstate identification requires ROUTE=1 and a parseable I-route number in TWAY_ID; the listed routes represent a coded subset, not a full road network.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Daytime, from 6 a.m. to 5:59 p.m., accounted for 14 deaths, or 66.7%. Nighttime, from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., accounted for 7, or 33.3%. Rural locations recorded 14 deaths, or 66.7%, and urban locations recorded 7, or 33.3%. Work-zone truck accident deaths numbered 10. That work-zone figure counts deaths rather than trucks or crashes.^{[1][2][3][4][5][7]}

Truck accident death rate compared with South Carolina and the United States

Cherokee County's truck accident death rate was 7.4 average annual deaths per 100,000 residents for 2020 through 2024. South Carolina's rate was 2.5, and the United States rate was 1.6. The listed neighboring county, Spartanburg County, had a rate of 2.4. Cherokee County's rate was higher than each of these comparison rates.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

The corresponding death counts were 21 for Cherokee County, 664 for South Carolina, 27,553 for the United States and 41 for Spartanburg County. These rates use annual Census population estimates and do not adjust for miles driven or visitors. For readers searching for a truck accident lawyer, the counts are grouped by crash location, not the home county of the people killed.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}

Rates divide deaths by the sum of annual Census population estimates, so they show deaths per 100,000 residents per year. They do not adjust for miles driven or for visitors.

About these figures

NHTSA's census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes is FARS. To qualify for inclusion, a crash must involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and the death of an occupant or nonoccupant within 30 days. Crash location determines the counts rather than residence. The counts exclude nonfatal crashes and injuries.^[9][6][7][8]

The 2020 through 2023 records are Final Files. The 2024 Annual Report File can change when replaced by the Final File. Rates divide 2020 through 2024 deaths by the sum of annual Census Bureau population estimates from Vintage 2025, then multiply by 100,000. The result is average annual deaths per 100,000 residents, without adjustment for miles driven or visitors. The separate July 1, 2024 population estimate is not the rate denominator.^[9][6][7][8]