Tragic Wrong-Way Crash Kills One on Interstate 26 in Orangeburg, South Carolina (SC)
ORANGEBURG, SC- Live5news.com writes that a deadly wrong-way crash tragically killed one person this week in Orangeburg. The two-vehicle incident also injured two others.*
Reports state that a Jeep SUV entered the eastbound traffic lanes of Interstate 26 in the middle of the night traveling westbound. The Jeep struck a 2018 Kia Optima that was heading in the correct direction. The driver in the Kia was using a seatbelt at the time, but responders stated that the individual died at the crash site. The occupants of the Jeep sustained severe injuries and are receiving treatment in a local hospital. Police advised the public to use caution in the area following the deadly incident. The South Carolina Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the wreck.*
Wrong-way crashes are some of the deadliest collisions on the road. Fortunately, these crashes are uncommon. About 300 to 400 people die because of wrong-way crashes annually. In order for a wrong-way crash to take place, a driver must enter a divided roadway in the wrong direction. Road designers go to great lengths to make markings clear on divided interstates and roads in order to prevent these types of incidents. Divided roads are often separated because the traffic is traveling at high speeds.
A head-on collision at such speeds is likely to lead to devastating results. Because of the efforts taken to prevent drivers from entering a highway on a designated exit ramp, drivers do not typically make such a mistake. Sometimes drivers might make an illegal U-turn, which can cause them to end up traveling against the flow of traffic on a divided road, but this too is uncommon. More than half of the motorists who cause wrong-way crashes are drunk or otherwise impaired by drugs and alcohol.
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.live5news.com/2020/10/10/troopers-fatal-crash-blocks-lanes-i-/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-on_collision
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/other_topics/wwd/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20WWD,related%20fatalities%20that%20occur%20annually.
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/other_topics/wwd/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268075815_Statistical_Characteristics_of_Wrong-Way_Driving_Crashes_on_Illinois_Freeways