A new study published by TRIP, a Washington, DC based transportation think tank, states that the deteriorated roads and roads lacking some desirable safety features cost South Carolina drivers $5.4 billion across the state each year.
The cost breaks down to $1,379 per driver in the Upstate due to higher vehicle operating costs, traffic crashes and congestion-related delays, TRIP said.
The report states the added costs come from “driving on roads in need of repair, lost time and fuel due to congestion-related delays, and the costs of traffic crashes in which roadway features likely were a contributing factor.”
The report also found that two-thirds of major local and state-maintained roads are in poor or mediocre condition, that ten percent of local and state-maintained bridges are structurally deficient, and that South Carolina has the highest rate of fatal traffic crashes in the nation.