Teenager killed in head-on crash on SC road, coroner says
A teenager was killed in a head-on collision with a pickup truck on a South Carolina road Tuesday, according to the Aiken County Coroner’s Office.
Shajira Betties died at the scene of the two-vehicle collision, Coroner Darryl Ables said. The 17-year-old Aiken resident suffered blunt force injuries, according to Ables.
The crash happened at about 1:45 p.m. on U.S. 78, near the intersection with Cedar Branch Road, said Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell of the South Carolina Highway Patrol. That’s in the Windsor area of Aiken County.
Betties was heading west on U.S. 78 in a 2013 Nissan Altima when the car ran off the right side of the road, according to Tidwell. Betties overcorrected, and the car swerved back onto the road, but the Nissan crossed the center line and and into the eastbound lane where it crashed into an oncoming 2017 Chevrolet pickup truck, Tidwell said.
After the collision, the Nissan ran off the road, according to Tidwell.
The Chevy driver was wearing a seat belt and was not hurt, Ables said.
Information if Betties was wearing a seat belt was not available.
No other injuries were reported by Highway Patrol.
There was no word on what caused the Nissan to originally run off the road, but the crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol. The coroner’s office said it’s waiting for results of toxicology tests.
Through Tuesday afternoon, 570 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2021, state Department of Public Safety data shows.
At least 16 people have been killed in Aiken County crashes in 2021, according to DPS.
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This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 8:12 AM.
