Stretches of Interstate 85 between Greenville and Anderson counties have gone without working overhead lights since at least 2017, and as millions of Americans hit the road for Labor Day weekend, drivers and Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride say the darkness has made an already busy corridor more dangerous. Some sections have no light poles at all, while in areas where poles do exist, most of the fixtures are out.
As reported by FOX Carolina News, Sheriff McBride said his department regularly responds to wrecks on the interstate and that lighting may help along the darkest stretches. “Safety is paramount for travelers and first responders,” McBride said, according to the station, though he noted distracted driving may also be a contributing factor in some crashes. Driver Scott Odet told the outlet the interstate is “really dark and hard to see,” and driver Johnny Jackson said he has witnessed many accidents on I-85, adding that the state should take care of the people who rely on it.
A Corridor With a Troubled Nighttime Record
FOX Carolina drove the stretch of I-85 itself after viewers raised concerns, and found a particularly dangerous section near where the interstate narrows from three lanes to two. Per the station's reporting, I-85 in Anderson County saw 15 deadly crashes between 2021 and 2026, with 11 of those 15 fatal wrecks occurring between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. The station also cited Federal Highway Administration data showing the nighttime driver fatality rate runs three times higher than the daytime rate. According to the South Carolina Department of Transportation, its traffic-count portal provides Average Annual Daily Traffic data sheets by county for years including 2017 through 2025, allowing traffic volumes to be compared over the period the lights have been out.
That danger is not confined to Anderson County. Greenville County recorded 31 traffic fatalities through mid-August 2026, compared to 30 over the same period in 2025, even as statewide traffic deaths fell from 603 to 543, according to Hoodline's reporting on state Department of Public Safety data. The Federal Highway Administration separately designates continuous highway lighting as a proven safety countermeasure, with agency research showing proper illumination can cut nighttime crashes by 28% to 42%. A broader academic review of controlled roadway studies found that installing lighting on unlit roads can reduce fatal crashes by as much as 66%, since night driving accounts for only about a quarter of vehicle miles traveled nationally but roughly half of all traffic deaths.
SCDOT Cites Funding Gap, Past Litigation
The South Carolina Department of Transportation has acknowledged it is aware of the lighting problem, and the agency told FOX Carolina that funding is not currently available to fix the lights. SCDOT attributed the light outages to a number of factors back in 2017 and declined an interview earlier this year; in 2024, the agency declined to comment altogether, citing pending litigation. A lawsuit claiming the dark stretch of I-85 contributed to a near-fatal crash was settled before this month, though the seed reporting does not specify the settlement terms. A separate South Carolina personal injury case resulted in a $1 million recovery after a commercial truck struck a disabled car on an unlit, straight stretch of I-85 in Greenville County, according to Pracht Injury Lawyers.
Copper wire theft has long complicated repairs to highway lighting across Southern states, and South Carolina law explicitly criminalizes the theft of nonferrous metals like copper from public infrastructure, with heightened penalties when the theft disrupts electrical service, per state code cited by Justia. It remains an open question whether recurring copper theft, rather than budget constraints alone, has helped keep the I-85 lights dark for nearly a decade.
Governor's Race Puts SCDOT Funding in Focus
The outage comes as South Carolina heads toward a November 3 general election that will decide who oversees the agency responsible for the state's highways. Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson, who won his party's runoff with 68.6% of the vote, told FOX Carolina he supports safer and more reliable infrastructure and said he would direct transportation dollars toward core infrastructure and public safety if elected governor. Democratic State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who captured nearly 60% of the vote in his June primary, had not yet responded to the station's request for comment as of publication.
The stakes for whoever wins are about to grow. Under 2026 state legislation known as H5071/S831, control of SCDOT will shift so that the Secretary of Transportation is appointed directly by the governor and becomes the agency's sole governing authority by July 1, 2027, according to the Municipal Association of South Carolina. That means whichever candidate wins in November will inherit direct administrative accountability for decisions like whether to fund the I-85 lighting repairs that have lingered since 2017.
Holiday Traffic Adds Pressure
The timing adds urgency. AAA projected that 45 to 46 million Americans would travel over Labor Day weekend, with more than 85% of holiday travelers choosing to drive, and transportation analytics firm INRIX forecast that peak congestion would hit Thursday and Friday afternoons between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. as holiday drivers mixed with routine commuters. That volume funnels through corridors like I-85 at the same time the sun sets on stretches with no working lights.
FOX Carolina said it plans to follow up on the issue after the November election, when South Carolina's next governor and its restructured Department of Transportation will face pressure to decide whether the long-dark stretch of I-85 finally gets fixed.
