One killed in crash between school bus and tractor trailer on Midlands road
A truck driver was killed Tuesday after the tractor trailer he was driving collided with a school bus on a Midlands road, the Kershaw County Coroner’s Office said.
There were no children on the school bus when the two-vehicle crash occurred, Coroner David West said.
Wiggerson Gibbons Jr., a 51-year-old Louisville, Georgia, resident, died after he was thrown from the 18-wheeler in what West described as an accident.
The crash happened at about 2 p.m. near the intersection of U.S. 1 and Dogwood Lane in the Cassatt area, said Master Trooper David Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The 2012 tractor trailer was heading north on U.S. 1 when it attempted to slowdown for traffic ahead of it, according to Jones. The semi jackknifed into oncoming traffic, and collided with the 2021 Thomas school bus that was traveling south, Jones said.
After Gibbons was ejected from the truck, it burst into flames, according to Jones.
The bus driver was hurt and taken to Kershaw County Medical Center, West said. Further information on her condition was not available.
The bus driver was wearing a seat belt, Jones said.
No other injuries were reported by officials.
The wreck is being investigated by Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.
Through Tuesday afternoon, 967 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety. Of those, 653 of the victims had access to seat belts, but 352 were not wearing them, DPS reported.
There have been at least 16 people killed in Kershaw County crashes in 2020, and seat belts were not used in seven of the deaths, DPS data shows.
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This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 9:26 AM.
