Beaufort, SC truck route planning & crash data
Plan safer truck routes in Beaufort: commercial truck and garbage truck crashes in Beaufort and Beaufort County, dangerous roads, seasonality and route safety data for fleets. Patterns use Beaufort County numbers.
Where fatal truck crashes happened
Risk scorecard
Key findings
Snapshot
Crashes by month
Garbage trucks vs all trucks
0.0 deaths per 100 garbage-truck crashes vs 3.1 for all trucks.
Deadliest roads
How Beaufort County compares with South Carolina
Beaufort County against South Carolina and the US, 2015–2025 (years with complete crash reporting). Per-resident rates make big and small places comparable.
Where Beaufort County stands out
Full comparison
| Measure (2015–2025) | Beaufort County | South Carolina | United States | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crashes per 100k residents / yr | 21.9 | 61.6 | 49.7 | 64% below the state |
| Deaths per 100 crashes | 3.1 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 21% below the state |
| Injuries per crash | 0.76 | 0.64 | 0.49 | 1.2× the state |
| Garbage-truck share | 6.2% | 2.1% | 2.3% | 2.9× the state |
| On snow, slush or ice | 0.4% | 0.4% | 6.2% | same |
| Morning rush (6–10 am) | 28.7% | 24.0% | 23.7% | 1.2× the state |
| In rain, sleet or snow | 6.8% | 11.4% | 13.8% | 40% below the state |
| Winter months (Nov–Mar) | 45.0% | 40.5% | 41.9% | 1.1× the state |
| After dark | 11.8% | 21.5% | 24.8% | 45% below the state |
Beaufort County sits below South Carolina on crashes per 100k residents / yr, deaths per 100 crashes and in rain, sleet or snow. Where it is higher: injuries per crash, garbage-truck share and morning rush (6–10 am).
What stands out in Beaufort County: 1 in 16 of truck crashes here involve garbage trucks: 6.2%, vs 2.1% in South Carolina.
Overview
Since 2015, 499 crashes involving commercial trucks have been reported in Beaufort County. They injured 372 people and killed 16.
That averages about one truck crash every 8 days in fully reported years.
Beaufort had 119 reported truck crashes since 2015, too few for reliable patterns, so the charts and findings on this page use Beaufort County numbers.
When crashes happen
The worst month is March with 10.6% of truck crashes; the quietest is May at 7.0%.
The five winter months (November to March) hold 45.0% of truck crashes, against 40.5% across South Carolina.
More truck crashes happen at 12–1 pm than at any other hour (10.0%).
Road surface: 0.4% of truck crashes were on snow, slush or ice (South Carolina: 0.4%).
Where crashes happen
Fatal large-truck crashes within 10 miles of Beaufort since 2015 were spread across roads: US-21 (2) and SR-170 (1).
Garbage & waste trucks
Garbage and refuse trucks were involved in 30 crashes, 6.0% of the total, against 2.1% across South Carolina.
Their busiest month is April, with 17% of garbage-truck crashes.
They recorded 0.0 deaths per 100 crashes, against 3.1 for all trucks.
Route planning tips for Beaufort fleets
- Review driver schedules for March, the month with the most truck crashes.
- For residential and commercial waste routes, look again at April schedules: garbage-truck crashes peak then.
- Morning starts matter: 28.7% of truck crashes fall between 6 and 10 am, higher than South Carolina.
- Paste your stops into the free Route Planner to see the risk score, safer alternatives and low bridges.
About the data
Crash counts come from the FMCSA crash file (police-reported crashes involving trucks over 10,000 lb); fatal-crash locations come from NHTSA FARS. Text on this page states only what these numbers show.
Truck crashes by year: all trucks vs garbage trucks
Seasonality: when trucks crash in Beaufort County
By hour of day
Most dangerous roads for trucks
| Road | Fatal truck crashes since 2015 (within 10 miles) |
|---|---|
| US-21 | 2 |
| SR-170 | 1 |
Roads named most in all truck crash reports
| Road | Truck crashes since 2015 (Beaufort County) |
|---|---|
| Okatie Hwy | 26 |
| Fording Island Rd | 16 |
| Trask Pkwy | 15 |
| Sea Island Pkwy | 10 |
| Bluffton Pkwy | 8 |
| Charleston Hwy | 7 |
| Robert Smalls Pkwy | 5 |
| Bluffton Parkway | 4 |
Beaufort at a glance
| Population | 14,334 |
| Land area | 24.5 sq mi |
| Density | 585 per sq mi |
Waste facilities and haulers nearby
Historical data: truck crashes in Beaufort County since the 1990s
Combines the FMCSA crash file (all reported truck crashes, real coverage from about 1990) with NHTSA FARS (fatal crashes involving a large truck, 1982–2024).
| Decade | Truck crashes / yr | Change | Fatal crashes / yr (FARS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 47 | — | 2.2 |
| 2000s | 43 | -9% | 1.6 |
| 2010s | 34 | -20% | 0.8 |
| 2020s | 48 | +40% | 1.4 |
Reported truck crashes averaged 47 a year in the 1990s and 48 a year in the 2020s. Reporting practices changed over time, so part of any change can come from reporting. Fatal large-truck crashes: 1.0 a year in 2016–19, 1.4 a year in 2020–24.
Nearby places
Questions fleets ask about Beaufort
How many truck crashes happen in Beaufort?
Since 2015, 499 crashes involving commercial trucks were reported in Beaufort County (372 injured, 16 killed).
When do most truck crashes happen in Beaufort?
Truck crashes in Beaufort County peak in March, with 10.6% of the year's crashes.
Are garbage truck crashes common in Beaufort?
30 crashes involving garbage or refuse trucks have been reported in Beaufort County since 2015, 6.0% of all truck crashes.
What is the truck crash rate in Beaufort compared with South Carolina?
Beaufort County records 21.9 truck crashes per 100,000 residents a year, against 61.6 across South Carolina.
What is the best way to plan truck routes in Beaufort?
Paste your stops into the free CurbWaste Route Planner: it scores your route against fatal-crash locations, suggests safer alternatives and flags low bridges.
2026 is a partial year. Updated October 2026.