Tragic Collision Between Car and Truck Kills One in Darlington County

DARLINGTON COUNTY, SC- Abcnews4.com writes that a crash between a car and a large truck resulted in one fatality and injured three others. The afternoon collision took place at the intersection of Highway 15 and Center Road. Police report that a driver operating a tractor-trailer ran through a stop sign while heading eastbound on Center Road. A southbound car and the truck collided, with the smaller vehicle striking the trailer.*

The impact killed the person driving the car and injured three passengers in that same vehicle. The crash did not injure the truck driver. Reports do not yet indicate what if any charges were filed in relation to the tragic crash. 

The most likely victims in collisions involving large trucks are people traveling in passenger vehicles. Tractor-trailers weigh twenty and sometimes as much as 30 times as much as most cars on the road, and because trucks are higher off the ground, cars can become wedged beneath the trailers. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), this particular risk could be diminished by including underride guards on trucks. Adding such features could prevent many deaths. 

The IIHS also states that truckers often travel for long periods of time without breaks. The federal regulations for truck drivers state that they can legally operate a vehicle for eleven hours at a time. With drivers sitting behind the wheel of 10,000 plus pound vehicles for so many hours in a row, the risk of driver fatigue can mean deadly consequences for anyone sharing the road with these massive vehicles. Studies indicate that the risk of one of these drivers being involved in a crash is twice as high for drivers who have been operating a truck for eight hours or more. 

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://abcnews4.com/news/local/1-dead-3-hurt-after-car-collides-with-trucks-trailer-in-darlington-county

https://www.wbtw.com/news/woman-dies-in-crash-near-hartsville-on-highway-15/

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