Driver going wrong way on I-20 hits another car, and a person is killed, SC cops say
One person was killed and two others were injured Saturday night in Richland County when a car driving the wrong direction on Interstate 20 crashed into oncoming traffic, according to South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The two-vehicle collision happened at about 6:35 p.m. on a stretch of I-20 near Exit 65 in Columbia, Trooper Nick Pye said. That’s the exit for U.S. 176/Broad River Road, just a few miles from the Lexington County line and the area called Malfunction Junction.
A 2020 Nissan sedan was driving west in the eastbound lanes of I-20 when it hit an eastbound 2021 Toyota sedan, according to Pye.
The Toyota driver was killed, Pye said. There was no word if the driver died at the scene or was taken to an area hospital.
The Richland County Coroner’s Office has not identified the Toyota driver.
Both a passenger in the Toyota and the person driving the Nissan were taken to an area hospital, Pye said. Further information on their conditions was not available.
It was not immediately known if any of the occupants involved in the wreck wore a seat belt.
Information about why the Nissan was driving the wrong way on I-20 into oncoming traffic was not available, but the crash remains under investigation by the Highway Patrol.
There was no word if the driver of the Nissan will face any criminal charges.
Through Thursday, 310 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2022, according to the Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,192 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
At least 21 people have been killed in Richland County crashes in 2022, according to DPS. There were 73 deaths there last year, DPS data shows.
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