Columbus County named one of the deadliest counties for drivers in the US

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A new study shows Columbus County is one of the deadliest in the nation for drivers.

Florida personal injury lawyers Anidjar & Levine have named the county as the 6th most dangerous county in the country.

They looked at every US county with 50,000 or more residents.

According to the data, Columbus County averages 21.14 deadly car crashes per 10,000 people.

NCDOT data shows there were 102 fatal crashes in the county from 2018 to 2022, with the amount increasing each year, resulting in 26 deaths in 2022.

Andrew Barksdale is a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

He said every fatal accident offers a chance to learn and improve roads and safety.

“NCDOT will do an investigation of a fatal crash, looking more closely at the roadway or the intersection,” Barksdale said. “Looking at the data, looking at crash patterns, looking at the lay of the land. You know, why did this happen? Is there a sun glare? Is there a curve? Do we need a guardrail?”

Nearby Robeson County was also on the study’s top 10 list, ranking in as the 3rd most dangerous county in the US with 22.5 deadly car crashes per 10,000 people.

According to NCDOT data, close to 280 people were killed in car crashes in Robeson between 2018 and 2022.