Driver killed after being thrown from car during crash on Midlands road, SC cops say
One person was killed in an early-morning car crash on a Midlands road, the South Carolina Highway Patrol said.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 3 a.m. Sunday in Orangeburg County, Master Trooper David Jones said.
A 2014 Kia sedan was heading south on U.S. 321 when it ran off the right side of the road near the intersection with Crim Road, according to Jones. That’s in the town of North, about 26 miles outside of Columbia.
After the Kia ran off the road, it hit a ditch and smashed into a utility pole before flipping several times, Jones said.
The driver was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car during the wreck, and died at the scene, according to Jones.
The Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office will publicly identify the driver after notifying the next of kin.
No other injuries were reported in the collision.
Information on what caused the Kia to veer off the road was not available, but the crash continues to be investigated by Highway Patrol.
Through Monday morning, 773 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety. Of those, 529 of the victims had access to seat belts, but 278 were not wearing them, DPS reported.
This was at least the 24th person killed in a Orangeburg County crash in 2020, and in 17 of those deaths no seat belt was used, according to DPS.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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