Three Dead Following Horrific Tragic Head-On Crash on Highway 31 in Horry County, South Carolina (SC)
HORRY COUNTY, SC- Myrtlebeachonline.com writes that a crash on SC Highway 31 killed three people in the morning this week in Horry County, South Carolina.*
The collision took place when a driver operating a Jeep drove northbound against the flow of traffic on the highway and struck a southbound Mini Cooper. The impact killed two people in the Jeep, including the driver. The person driving the Mini Cooper also died in the crash. A passenger in the vehicle that was traveling in the correct direction survived the impact and is receiving treatment at a local hospital.
Head-on crashes are some of the most severe collisions to take place on the road. Statistics suggest that while only two percent of car crashes involve a head-on impact, these collisions are responsible for about one out of every ten victims of fatal traffic accidents. In an attempt to reduce the risk of deadly collisions, road designers often install traffic barriers that prevent drivers from veering over the centerline and into oncoming traffic. Medians sometimes become an obstacle for drivers as well and might be involved in some severe crashes. However, the impact between a car and a median tends to be less severe than a head-on collision would be, especially on roads with high speeds.
Even when road designers install concrete or cable barriers in-between opposite traveling lanes of traffic, and there are still some serious head-on collisions caused by wrong-way drivers. Wrong-way crashes are a particular type of head-on collision in which a driver is traveling against the flow of traffic on a divided road. Such collisions are fairly rare, but when they do take place, the results are frequently devastating. Divided roads often have higher speed limits, which means these impacts occur with tremendous force.
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Sources:
https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/article246536568.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-on_collision
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/other_topics/wwd/#:~:text=In percent20the percent20United percent20States percent2C percent20WWD,related percent20fatalities percent20that percent20occur percent20annually.