Calhoun County ranked among the safest places to drive in South Carolina during 2002, the Carolinas AAA Motor Club reported Tuesday.

Releasing its eighth annual study of vehicle collisions, the Charlotte-based American Automobile Association affiliate ranked Calhoun second among counties where motorists are least likely to be in a collision and least likely to be injured in a crash.

Bamberg County ranked fourth as the county in which a motorist has the best chance of not being killed in a crash.

No T&D Region county ranked among the five most dangerous places for crashes, injuries and death in the AAA ratings. Marlboro County topped the list in each category with Charleston County second for collisions and injuries.

Orangeburg ranked as the most dangerous S.C. county for deaths from crashes involving tractor-trailers but was not in the top five for total crashes or injuries involving the big rigs. Carolinas AAA numbers for 2002 show eight people dying in Orangeburg County from crashes involving tractor-trailers. Horry County and Berkeley County were second and third with four deaths each.

Overall, Orangeburg County ranked high for chances of being killed and injured in crashes but low in the total numbers of crashes per vehicle miles traveled.

With 1.5 billion miles logged (ranked 11th highest), Orangeburg County had 2,341 crashes (ranked 33rd among the 46 counties), 1,566 collisions with property damage only (ranked 31st) and 734 crashes with injuries (ranked 34th). In those crashes, 1,237 people were hurt (35th) and 41 people were killed (10th).

Pedestrian fatalities totaled six (ranked 6th). Total fatalities were 46th (ranked 14th).

In Calhoun County, with 432 million miles traveled, the numbers were better in every category.

Calhoun County's crashes totaled 369 (ranked 45th). Property-damage crashes were 269 and crashes with injuries totaled 93, both rankings at 45th. Crash injuries were 140 (45th). Crash fatalities totaled 7 (35th). Calhoun had no pedestrian fatalities.

Bamberg's number of fatalities in 2002 was two, ranking the county 43rd. With 182 million travel miles recorded, the county totaled 245 collisions (ranked 36th). Property-damage collisions were 154 (37th) and crashes with injuries stood at 89 (35th). Injuries totaled 159 (33).

The new presentation of the numbers from 2002 comes as the S.C. Highway Patrol is focusing on reducing the number of crashes and resulting deaths as 2003 ends.

Lance Cpl. Dwight Green, spokesman for the seven-county S.C. Highway Patrol Troop 7 that includes Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg counties, said there were 32 traffic deaths in Orangeburg County in 2003. In Calhoun County, there were five.

"We're hoping that those numbers remain as low as they are'' even as the patrol in the two counties faces a major holiday with less than half the troopers on the road than two years ago, Green said. Eleven troopers and five supervisors now cover the two counties.

"When there are more troopers on the roadways, that classifies as people seeing our presence and reduces our numbers in collisions," Green said. "When you have less troopers out on the roadway, it's going to take us longer to respond."

Statewide, the number of fatalities for 2003 stands at 949. The total for 2002 was 1,053.

In releasing its numbers, Carolinas AAA notes Marlboro County's most-dangerous designation is the second in a row for the northeastern county with only 29,000 residents and a fourth of 1 percent of the vehicle miles traveled in the state. Other counties recording the high death and injury numbers per mile driven are also small and rural, Marion and Chesterfield counties.

"Most people think heavy-volume roads, like interstates or those around major cities, would have the highest accident rates, but Marlboro, Marion and Chesterfield -- all rural counties -- show that, mile for mile, rural roads are among the most dangerous," said David E. Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas.

In Marlboro, an increasing number of collisions occurred on secondary roads and were single-vehicle crashes, Senior Trooper Ashley Mew of the Troop 5 S.C. Highway Patrol said.

"Drivers tend to forget about driving when no one else is on the road, but that can prove to be the biggest mistake," Parsons said. "When people are distracted or inattentive is when they veer off the road, overcorrect and lose control."

"On top of that, we've seen an increase in seat belts not being used in crashes -- especially in our single-vehicle crashes," Mew said.

Green cites speeding and following too closely along with inattention as factors most contributing to crashes locally.

And he notes the diversity of the driving experience in Orangeburg County, which has the second largest land area among counties. The county features major interstates and vast stretches of rural and secondary roads. "A lot of our collisions are on rural roads," he said.

Lee Harter can be reached at lharter@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5520.

Crash report

Carolinas AAA numbers from 2002/. Ranks are based on number of crashes, injuries and deaths divided by number of vehicle miles traveled per county

-- Orangeburg County: 2,341 crashes (ranked 33rd among 46 S.C. counties); 1,237 people hurt (35th); 41 people killed (10th).

-- Calhoun County: 369 crashes (ranked 45th); crash injuries, 140 (45th); 7 crash fatalities (35th).

-- Bamberg County: 245 crashes (ranked 36th); 159 crash injuries (33rd); 2 fatalities (43rd).

-- Dorchester County: 2,227 crashes (ranked 15th); 914 injuries (32nd); 27 deaths (14th).

-- Barnwell County: 339 crashes (ranked 34th); 254 injuries (15th); 4 deaths (30th).

-- Lexington County: 5,555 crashes (ranked 17th); 1,237 injuries (35th); 39 deaths (36th).

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