Tragic Special Needs Bus Crash Kills Two in Anderson County, South Carolina

HONEA PATH, SC- Wyff4.com writes that two people died in a collision involving a bus earlier this week on Belton Honea Pathway in Anderson County. The small bus was transporting special needs individuals during the afternoon. The Anderson County Coroner stated that the victims were a 34-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman both of whom were from Belton.*

Reports indicate the woman crossed into oncoming traffic and struck the van as it was returning from Honea Path. Both of the victims died at the scene of the accident. 

The 53-year-old woman worked as a substitute teacher at the Anderson One School District. The victim had taught in the Palmetto School District that day. The district will have extra counselors available to support the students. 

The crash is still under investigation, and the National Transportation Safety Board sent in representatives to evaluate the incident and occupant safety concerns with the involved vehicles. 

Head-on collisions often result from a few seconds of distraction. Drivers can drift across a center line because they look at a phone or a radio dial. These collisions often involve great amounts of force that have the potential to kill a vehicle occupant, even if that person is buckled up in a safe, modern vehicle and not even traveling particularly fast. Studies indicate that cars need only travel around 43 miles per hour in order to make a head-on collision turn deadly. Divided highways greatly reduce the risks of these crashes. While a car crash involving a median can be severe, medians and traffic barriers are a good way to prevent head-on collisions from a vehicle unexpectedly veering into opposing lanes of traffic. 

Unfortunately, staying alert at the wheel may not be enough to protect drivers. When a car drifts into another person’s lane traveling in the opposite direction, there is little time to react. 

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.wyff4.com/article/kevin-lecroy-and-sherri-depetrillo-killed-in-anderson-county-crash-coroner-says-special-needs-bus-belton-honea-path-highway/30260531 and https://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/how-to-survive-a-head-on-collision-slow-down-to-below-43mph/