Truck crashes into trees, killing South Carolina man, officials say
A South Carolina man was killed Saturday in a crash when the pickup truck he was driving ran off the road, flipped over, and hit several trees, officials said.
Gavin L. Truelove suffered blunt force trauma in what the Greenwood County Coroner’s Office said was an accident. The 23-year-old Ninety Six resident died at the scene, according to the coroner’s office.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 4:30 a.m. on S.C. 702, said Cpl. Joe Hovis of South Carolina Highway Patrol. It was close to the intersection with Eddy Road in the Ninety Six area, near the Saluda River.
Truelove was driving west on S.C. 702 in a 2013 Ford pickup when the truck ran off the right side of the road, according to Hovis. Truelove overcorrected and the truck crossed over S.C. 702 and ran off the left side of the road before hitting several trees, Hovis said.
The truck rolled over before coming to a stop, the coroner’s office said.
Truelove was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the pickup, according to Hovis.
No other injuries were reported.
Information on what caused Truelove to lose control of the truck was not available, but the collision continues to be investigated by Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.
Through Friday morning, 12 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2022, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Of those, eight of the victims had access to seat belts, but five were not wearing them, DPS reported.
Last year, 1,097 people died in crashes in South Carolina, and 655 had access to seat belts but were not wearing safety restraints, DPS data shows.
This is the first person to have been killed in a Greenwood County crash in 2022, according to DPS.
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This story was originally published January 9, 2022 at 9:10 AM.
