South Carolina Roadway Fatalities Up for First Time Since 2007

The number of people killed on South Carolina’s roadways has gone up for the first time since 2007.

The state Department of Public Safety says that 810 people had been killed on state roads and highways as of Dec. 27. That’s compared to 2010, when 801 people died on South Carolina’s roads.

The last increase in traffic fatalities happened in 2007, when 1,052 were killed in South Carolina. That’s compared to 1,024 the year before.

The number of people killed in car accidents actually went down last year, from 591 to 559. But the number of pedestrians killed in South Carolina has gone up nearly 20 percent since 2010. Troopers say 110 pedestrians were killed in 2011, compared to 89 last year.