Motorcycle rider killed in collision with truck, utility pole identified by SC coroner
A motorcycle rider was killed in a crash on a Richland County road, the South Carolina Highway Patrol said.
Cromer N. Spires, a 36-year-old Irmo resident, was the motorcycle rider, according to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford.
The two-vehicle collision happened at about 4:40 p.m. Tuesday on Kennerly Road, according to Master Trooper David Jones. That’s in the Irmo area, not far from Broad River Road.
The wreck involved a 2006 Suzuki motorcycle and a 2008 Chevrolet pickup truck driving in opposite directions on Kennerly Road, Jones said.
The southbound Chevy pickup turned left at the intersection with Hopewell Church Road and was hit in the rear by the motorcycle, according to Jones.
After colliding with the pickup, the motorcycle ran off the right side of the road and smashed into a utility pole, Jones said.
Spires died at the scene, according to Jones.
There was no word if Spires wore a helmet.
Jones said the pickup driver was not hurt, and no other injuries were reported in the crash that continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol.
“Motorcycles are everywhere but they are small, easily obscured by other vehicles and roadside structures, and sometimes hard to see,” the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said recently while promoting Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. “Automobile drivers should watch closely for motorcycles in all directions at intersections. Avoid turns — especially left-hand turns across oncoming traffic — on yellow lights in case an approaching motorcycle is coming through the intersection.”
Through Monday, 509 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2022, including 70 motorcycle riders, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
At least 33 people have died in Richland County crashes in 2022, and this is the sixth that involved a motorcycle, DPS reported.
In a separate incident Sunday, a motorcycle rider was killed in a crash with a pickup truck on U.S. 76 near Shadowood Drive, according to the Highway Patrol.
A 2022 GMC Sierra pickup was turning left off Shadowood Drive onto U.S. 76, heading west, the Highway Patrol said. A 2008 Harley-Davidson motorcycle was traveling east on U.S. 76, and the two vehicles collided.
The motorcycle driver was taken to Prisma Health Richland and later died, while a passenger on the motorcycle also was taken to the hospital for injuries, according to the Highway Patrol. Further information on the passenger’s condition was not available.
In 2021, 159 motorcycle riders were among the 1,194 people who died on South Carolina roads, according to DPS. Thirteen of last year’s 73 deadly crashes in Richland County involved a motorcycle, DPS data shows.
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This story was originally published July 6, 2022 at 8:09 AM.
