Tragic Crash Kills One, Injures One in Chester County, South Carolina (SC)

CHESTER COUNTY, SC- Heraldonline.com writes that a crash occurred this week in Chester County that left one individual dead and injured another. The three-vehicle collision took place on Interstate 77, in the southbound lanes in the late evening.*

Reports have not yet released any identifying information regarding the victim. One of the involved vehicles was a tractor-trailer, which was stopped in the left-lane after becoming disabled. The driver, a man from Florida, was in the truck at the time of the crash. A van traveling south collided with the semi, and then struck a southbound Kia sedan. The person driving the van was declared dead at the scene. Responders transported the driver of the Kia to a hospital in Columbia. The crash is still under investigation. 

Large trucks are involved in thousands of deadly crashes every year. In 2018, 4,136 people in the United States died in crashes with large trucks. Most of the victims in these tragic wrecks are not people who were traveling in the trucks. Because trucks are so massive, a crash between a semi and a car will often be deadly for the person or people in the smaller vehicle. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that 67 percent of victims of large truck crashes were occupants of smaller vehicles. Only sixteen percent of those killed were actually in the large trucks at the time of the crash.

There are other factors that also increase the risks involved with large trucks, including the amount of time the drivers are permitted to operate their vehicles. By law, these drivers can be behind the wheel for up to eleven hours. Studies indicate that drivers are about twice as likely to crash after just eight hours of driving. Poorly maintained trucks also are at a greater risk of being involved in a collision. 

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 a 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.heraldonline.com/news/local/community/article243482171.html

https://www.iihs.org/topics/large-trucks