Tragic Truck Crash Kills One on Interstate 77 in Chester County, South Carolina (SC)

CHESTER COUNTY, SC- Wbtv.com writes that a crash occurred on Interstate 77 in Chester County that left one person dead.*

The incident happened in the later evening. Reports indicate that one of the trucks, which was transporting cars, changed lanes, and collided with a second flat-bed semi-truck. The crash killed a passenger in the truck that was transporting cars. Reports state that the driver also suffered injuries and that the victim had a seatbelt on at the time of the crash. Investigators stated that the passenger became trapped in the vehicle in the collision.* 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, most types of car crashes declined in the United States in 2019. the total number of fatal car accidents dropped from 2018 by 1.2 percent. Fewer vehicle occupants, pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists died in vehicle-related collisions last year than the prior year. 

The only category that experienced an increase in fatal crashes was collisions involving large trucks. Large truck crashes increased by one percent. The small rise in fatal truck collisions may have something to do with the fact that large trucks often do not have the same level of crash avoidance technology as is available in smaller passenger vehicles. 

Passenger vehicles now frequently come with sophisticated crash avoidance technology, such as forward collision warning, blind-spot detection, and emergency braking. Such features would likely be beneficial on trucks as well and could prevent many deadly crashes, including those involving people in vehicles other than the large trucks. After all, the most likely victims in large truck crashes are not the occupants of the trucks. People in smaller vehicles are more at risk of suffering fatal injuries when they are involved in collisions with these massive vehicles. 

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.wbtv.com/2020/10/23/passenger-killed-after-two-freightliner-trucks-crash-chester-county/

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

https://www.nhtsa.gov/crash-avoidance/advanced-technologies

https://www.trucks.com/2019/10/22/trucking-fatalities-reach-highest-level-30-years/