Flying tire causes deadly Richland County crash, cops say. Person killed identified
A tire flew off one vehicle and smashed into another headed in the opposite direction, killing one person and injuring three others early Thursday morning, South Carolina Highway Patrol said.
The two-vehicle collision happened at about 1 a.m. near mile marker 67 on Interstate 20, Master Trooper David Jones said. That’s near the Broad River Road exit in Columbia, just beyond the area known as Malfunction Junction.
Richland County Coroner Gary Watts identified the deceased as 41-year-old Robert Jones Jr. of Fifth Street in Pendleton, South Carolina.
Multiple eastbound lanes of I-20 were closed for hours following the wreck, South Carolina Department of Transportation tweeted.
A 2006 Toyota Corolla was heading east on I-20 when an unknown vehicle going in the opposite direction lost a wheel and tire that crossed the median, according to the Highway Patrol.
The debris smashed into the Corolla, the Highway Patrol said. After the initial collision, the Corolla wrecked into the median barrier, according to the Highway Patrol.
Jones was the front seat passenger, police said. The driver and two other passengers in the back seat were hurt and taken to an area hospital with what the Highway Patrol called non-life-threatening injuries.
Further information on their conditions was not available.
All four occupants of the car were wearing seat belts, the Highway Patrol said.
The vehicle that lost the tire continued going east, and Highway Patrol is looking for information on it and the driver.
The wreck remains under investigation by Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.
Through Wednesday, 397 people have died on South Carolina roads in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety.
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 9:14 AM.
