South Carolina man killed in crash that left another driver hospitalized, officials say

One driver was killed and another was injured Wednesday when an SUV and a car were involved in a crash, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Brian Corley, a 46-year-old Williston resident, died in what Aiken County Coroner Darryl Ables called an accident.

The two-vehicle collision happened at about 1:40 p.m. on U.S. 78/Charleston Highway, said Lance Cpl. Brittany Glover of the Highway Patrol.

Corley was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Malibu east on U.S. 78, while a 2013 Ford Escape was heading west, according to Glover. Near the intersection with Clippership Loop, the Ford SUV crossed left of the center line and hit the Chevy head-on, Ables said.

Both drivers were taken to a hospital in Augusta, Georgia, where Corley died, according to Ables.

Further information on the SUV driver’s condition was not available.

Glover said the drivers were the only people in the respective vehicles, and no other injuries were reported.

There was no word if either of the drivers were wearing a seat belt.

Information about what caused the SUV to veer into oncoming traffic was not available, but Ables said both his office and the Highway Patrol are continuing to investigate the wreck. An autopsy will be scheduled in Newberry, according to Ables.

Through Sunday, 386 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2024, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,030 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.

At least 15 people have died in Aiken County crashes in 2024, according to DPS data. There were 38 deaths reported in the county in 2023, DPS said.

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

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