Tragic Crash Kills Trucker in Midlands, South Carolina
MIDLANDS, SC- Thestate.com writes that a truck driver died this week in a tragic accident on US 21 in Orangeburg County, South Carolina. The early morning wreck took place when the driver lost control of his box truck and veered off the left side of the highway.*
The truck collided with a culvert killing the motorist at the scene. The county coroner has not released information regarding the driver’s identity as the police are still notifying the victim’s family.
Police do not know what caused the driver to leave the roadway or whether he was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. There have been 29 traffic-related deaths in South Carolina in just the first three weeks of 2020. Twenty of the victims were in vehicles with seatbelts, and yet twelve were unrestrained when they were killed.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), seatbelts reduce the chances of suffering severe injuries or dying in a car crash by about 50 percent. Thousands of lives are saved every year by this simple safety device. Vehicles with airbags provide additional protection, but the airbags in the absence of a seatbelt are not effective in protecting vehicle occupants in a crash.
South Carolina has a primary seatbelt law, which means those police officers who observe a person traveling without a seatbelt can pull that individual over and issue a ticket. Police may also stop and cite a driver if they are traveling with an unrestrained minor. States without primary enforcement laws only allow officers to ticket unbelted drivers if they committed a separate driving offense, such as speeding. Statistically, states with primary enforcement laws for seatbelts tend to have higher rates of occupants using restraints.
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.
Sources:https://www.thestate.com/news/traffic/article239520058.html and https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/seatbelts/facts.html and https://scdps.sc.gov/buckleupsc