Crash Kills Two on West Oak Highway in Oconee County, South Carolina (SC)

OCONEE COUNTY, SC- Wspa.com writes that a woman died this week following a crash that already killed her sister. The sisters were in a pickup truck when they collided head-on with another vehicle. The 73-year-old Seneca woman driving the vehicle died at the crash scene. The passenger in the pickup truck, a 79-year-old woman from Westminster who was the driver’s sister was rushed to the Greenville Memorial Hospital, where she died within days of the collision.*

The incident occurred on West Oak Highway close to Miller Farm Road when another vehicle entered the pickup truck’s lane and struck the victim’s truck head-on. The occupants of the other vehicle were teens, who were both injured as well. 

Head-on collisions are some of the most severe wrecks that occur. While only around two percent of crashes are head-on impacts, these incidents kill about ten percent of crash victims. 

Road designers attempt to prevent these wrecks by installing barriers between traffic lanes to prevent cars from drifting into opposite lanes of traffic. 

When it comes to head-on crashes, at 43 miles per hour, such incidents often become fatal. One way drivers can avoid being in a severe head-on impact is by staying off of roads that have posted speed limits above 40 miles per hour or higher but do not have any type of barrier. On these roads, it is too easy for cars to cross into another traffic lane. Also, speeding is prevalent, meaning that on a 40 miles per hour road, the drivers are often traveling at higher speeds.

It is important to note that even cars with five-car ratings are not able to protect occupants at speeds above 40 miles per hour in front end crashes. 

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.wspa.com/news/local-news/woman-dies-days-after-sister-following-oconee-co-crash/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-on_collision

https://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/how-to-survive-a-head-on-collision-slow-down-to-below-43mph/#:~:text=To%20put%20it%20simply%2C%20if,no%20higher%20than%2043%20mph.