Woman on the way to work dies in early-morning crash, Midlands coroner says
A Midlands woman driving to work Monday was killed when another car swerved into her lane and caused a head-on crash, the Kershaw County Coroner’s Office said.
Melissa Moore died at the scene, Coroner David West said. The 55-year-old Camden-area resident was on her way to her job at MLILY Corporation — a mattress producing company — in Ridgeway, according to West.
The two-vehicle collision happened at about 6 a.m. on S.C. 34/Ridgeway Road, near the intersection with Turkey Ridge Lane, said Master Trooper David Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol. That’s about 8 miles from Exit 92 on Interstate 20 near Lugoff.
Moore was driving a 2015 Nissan west on S.C. 34 when a 2007 Saturn heading in the opposite direction crossed the center line leading to the wreck, according to Jones.
The man driving the Saturn was taken to a Prisma Health hospital in Richland County, according to West. Jones said the Saturn driver suffered serious injuries, but further information on his condition was not available.
Both Moore and the man driving the Saturn wore seat belts, according to Jones.
No other injuries were reported.
Information on what caused the Saturn to veer into oncoming was not available, but the crash that West called an accident continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.
Through Monday afternoon, 590 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2021, state Department of Public Safety data shows.
At least 12 people have been killed in Kershaw County crashes in 2021, DPS reported.
There have been other fatal collisions in the Midlands in recent days involving vehicles heading the wrong way into oncoming traffic.
On Saturday, a motorcycle rider was killed in a crash in Columbia. A 2012 Kawasaki was going north in the southbound lane on U.S. 21 when it collided with a Toyota making a left turn into a driveway, according to the Highway Patrol.
On Sunday, both drivers of a 2018 Hyundai sedan and a 2011 Jeep SUV were killed in a two-vehicle collision on a section of Interstate 26 in Lexington County. The Hyundai was heading east when it was hit by the Jeep traveling in the opposite direction in the eastbound lanes, according to the Highway Patrol.
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This story was originally published July 27, 2021 at 8:04 AM.
