Two killed in car crash near Williams-Brice Stadium, Richland County Coroner says
Two people died Monday morning in a car crash in Columbia, the Richland County Coroner’s Office said.
The crash happened just before 9 a.m. on Bluff Road, near the intersection with Eden Street, Master Trooper David Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol told The State.
That is in the shadow of Williams-Brice Stadium, the football home of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. The crash occurred on the opposite side of the stadium from the South Carolina State Fairgrounds.
There were three vehicles involved in the wreck, Jones said. Both of the crash victims were in the same vehicle, a 2002 Honda, Jones said.
The driver was taken to an area hospital and died, while a front-seat passenger was killed at the scene, according to Jones. Neither the driver nor passenger were wearing a seat belt, Jones said.
No other injuries were reported in the collision.
Following the wreck the road was closed, but had reopened before noon, Jones said.
The Honda was heading toward Bluff Road when the driver disregarded a stop sign and smashed into a 2015 Dodge Ram truck that was heading west on Bluff, Highway patrol reported.
After being hit on the driver’s side, the Honda then collided with a 2016 Toyota SUV also headed west on Bluff Road, according to Jones.
Both the driver of the Dodge and the Toyota were wearing seat belts and were not hurt in the collisions, Jones said.
Coroner Gary Watts said his office and Highway Patrol are continuing to investigate the crash.
Prior to Monday’s wreck, 107 people have died on South Carolina roads in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety. Of those deaths, 82 of the victims had access to seat belts, and 45 were not wearing safety restraints, DPS said.
The wreck is at least the third deadly collision near the Gamecocks’ stadium since August.
On Aug. 7, a Columbia man was walking near the stadium and was killed when he was hit by a 22-year-old woman who was charged with felony DUI involving death, The State reported.
On Sept. 10, a 21-year-old USC student was identified as the driver killed in a single-vehicle crash near Williams-Brice Stadium.
The coroner did not say if any of the people involved in Monday’s wreck were USC students.
In a December crash, a 22-year-old riding a bicycle “improperly,” died after colliding with a vehicle at the intersection of Bluff Road and Atlas Road, about four miles from the Gamecocks stadium, the coroner’s office said.
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 11:59 AM.
