Deer-related wrecks in SC spiked in 2021 and are still going strong. These counties see the most
Wrecks with deer more than doubled in South Carolina in 2021 and have continued at a fast pace this year.
South Carolina had 5,987 property damage-only collisions with deer reported in 2021, up from 2,382 collisions a year earlier, according to SC Department of Public Safety statistics. And those numbers don’t include the amount of deer-related wrecks with people injured — 452 injured people in 2021 compared to 426 in 2020.
South Carolina did have fewer deer wreck-related deaths last year however, with 3 in 2021 compared to 4 in 2020.
Meanwhile, deer-related wrecks in 2022 have already surpassed all those reported in 2020. There have been 2,630 property damage-only collisions reported in 2022 to date.
On the county level, Horry had the most deer-related wrecks at 358 in 2021 and 261 collisions in 2020. However, Anderson County currently has the most in 2022 with 169 deer-related wrecks.
McCormick County has had the fewest deer-related wrecks, with zero in 2020, seven in 2021 and two this year.
Here is a list of how many deer-related collisions each South Carolina county had in 2021 and in 2022 to date.
Abbeville: 2021: 44 | 2022: 27
Aiken: 2021: 263 | 2022: 100
Allendale: 2021: 28 | 2022: 11
Anderson: 2021: 305 | 2022: 169
Bamberg: 2021: 37 | 2022: 14
Barnwell: 2021: 40 | 2022: 27
Beaufort: 2021: 160 | 2022: 91
Berkeley: 2021: 185 | 2022: 69
Calhoun: 2021: 60 | 2022: 16
Charleston: 2021: 267 | 2022: 113
Cherokee: 2021: 68 | 2022: 45
Chester: 2021: 107 | 2022: 44
Chesterfield: 2021: 87 | 2022: 39
Clarendon: 2021: 68 | 2022: 23
Colleton: 2021: 116 | 2022: 41
Darlington: 2021: 114 | 2022: 68
Dillon: 2021: 54 | 2022: 31
Dorchester: 2021: 130 | 2022: 60
Edgefield: 2021: 75 | 2022: 29
Fairfield: 2021: 75 | 2022: 29
Florence: 2021: 175 | 2022: 70
Georgetown: 2021: 51 | 2022: 22
Greenville: 2021: 317 | 2022: 147
Greenwood: 2021: 116 | 2022: 54
Hampton: 2021: 35 | 2022: 14
Horry: 2021: 358 | 2022: 152
Jasper: 2021: 112 | 2022: 42
Kershaw: 2021: 130 | 2022: 36
Lancaster: 2021: 126 | 2022: 52
Laurens: 2021: 156 | 2022: 72
Lee: 2021: 82 | 2022: 32
Lexington: 2021: 205 | 2022: 73
McCormick: 2021: 7 | 2022: 2
Marion: 2021: 68 | 2022: 24
Marlboro: 2021: 147 | 2022: 57
Newberry: 2021: 69 | 2022: 33
Oconee: 2021: 72 | 2022: 30
Orangeburg: 2021: 235 | 2022: 110
To reduce your chances of striking a deer on the road, try following these tips offered by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
When deer are sighted well ahead of your vehicle, sound the horn several times, flick headlights (if no oncoming traffic is present) and reduce your vehicle’s speed.
If deer are sighted only a short distance in front of the vehicle, the horn and flicking lights may spook the deer into running across the road, so in that case it’s best to just slow down.
Always anticipate another deer if you see one or more crossing the highway and do not expect the deer to get out of the way.
Most serious injuries occur when the motorist loses control of the vehicle to avoid a deer and hits an immovable object, like a tree or embankment. If a collision with a deer is imminent, it is best to hit the deer rather than risk losing control of the vehicle.
Motorists should understand that deer-crossing signs mark a stretch of road where deer have been hit previously. However, these signs do not mark specific deer trails. Deer may frequently cross for several miles where the signs are posted.
