Vehicle Strikes and Kills Teen in Lancaster County, South Carolina
INDIAN LAND, SC- Heraldonline.com writes that a 16-year-old died earlier this week after a vehicle struck the individual in Indian Land. The crash occurred in the afternoon when a westbound Ford SUV struck the 16-year-old as walked westbound on the shoulder of the roadway.*
Responders rushed the boy to the Atrium Health Hospital for treatment. The teen died later from the injuries.
The incident marks the 17th fatality on Lancaster County highways in 2019.
The South Carolina Department of Public Safety is working to reduce traffic fatalities. Under Target Zero, the state is looking to eliminate traffic deaths on the state’s roads through a combination of engineering, education, improving emergency responses, and enforcement of traffic laws. One of the areas the program focuses on is pedestrian safety.
One major problem for pedestrians is that they are often not visible to drivers when walking on or near the roadway at night. The SCDPS says that the color of clothing a person wears while out at night impacts the distance at which a driver can see them. White is the most visible color, which drivers can see from 180 feet. White clothing, however, is not going to protect a pedestrian near a fast-moving highway where drivers traveling at 60 miles per hour require 260 feet to stop. Only individuals wearing reflective clothing, which can be seen for 500 feet, will be visible to a driver in time for that person to stop and avoid striking the pedestrian.
Better lighting, lower speed limits, and pedestrian detecting technology should all be incorporated in reducing fatalities as well. Unfortunately, even with all of the safety initiatives in cities and states around the country, pedestrian deaths are increasing across the United States rather than decreasing.
Accident News is a safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes. To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com - click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.
Source:https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/article237337799.html