Driver going the wrong way killed crashing into truck on SC road, Highway Patrol says

A Georgia man was killed when he crashed into a pickup truck on a South Carolina road, the Aiken County Coroner’s Office said Tuesday.

Reyes Garcia died in Monday’s wreck, Coroner Darryl Ables said. The 43-year-old Brunswick, Georgia, resident suffered blunt force injuries and died at the scene, according to the coroner.

The two-vehicle collision happened at about 1 p.m. in Aiken County, said Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Garcia was driving a 2002 Ford Focus west on Atomic Road and crossed left of the center line near the intersection with Old Jackson Highway, according to Tidwell. That’s in Jackson, not far from the Georgia-South Carolina state line.

The car collided with an eastbound Ford F-350 pickup that was pulling a shed, Tidwell said.

Ables said the pickup driver was not hurt and no other injuries were reported.

There was no word if any of the people in the collision wore seat belts.

Information about what caused the Focus to veer into oncoming traffic was not available, but the collision continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.

Toxicology tests are pending, according to Ables.

Through Sunday, 650 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2022, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,194 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.

At least 17 people have died in Aiken County crashes in 2022, DPS reported. Last year, 36 deaths were reported there, according to DPS data.

This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 7:58 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

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Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription