Man killed, woman critically injured in crash on downtown bridge, SC police say
One person was killed and another was seriously injured Saturday night in a crash on a bridge in South Carolina, according to the Columbia Police Department.
The three-vehicle collision happened before 8 p.m. on the Gervais Street bridge, police said on social media.
A man who was driving one of the vehicles died from the injuries he suffered in the wreck, police said.
The Richland County Coroner’s Office has not publicly identified the driver.
A woman, who was a passenger in the same vehicle, was critically injured, according to police. While police said that she did not suffer life-threatening injuries, further information on her condition was not available.
No other serious injuries were reported, police said.
Late Sunday night, police said that after collecting evidence and speaking with multiple witnesses at the scene, it was determined that the driver who died was speeding when he unlawfully crossed the double yellow line and crashed into a vehicle driving in the opposite direction. The man who died was not wearing a seatbelt, according to police.
The crash is being investigated by the police department’s traffic safety unit.
There was no word if any of the surviving crash victims were wearing seatbelts.
Aftermath
Police said the bridge was temporarily closed, because of the deadly wreck, later reporting it had reopened at 9:50 p.m.
Through March 8, at least 119 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2026, according to the state Department of Public Safety. A minimum of 914 people were killed in collisions in South Carolina in 2025, DPS data shows.
At least seven people have died in Richland County crashes this year, and 48 people died in wrecks there in 2025, according to DPS data.
Bridge over the Congaree River
Along with the Blossom Street bridge and the Jarvis Klapman bridge, the Gervais Street bridge is one of three in downtown that funnels traffic between Columbia and Lexington County.
Last year, an average of 26,900 drivers crossed the Gervais Street bridge daily, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
Prior to Saturday, there have been at least 13 collisions on the Gervais Street bridge between January 2024 and December 2025, The State previously reported. One of those occurred on Feb. 5, during the morning commute.
The bridge that spans the Congaree River has narrow lanes, and improper lane usage was the primary factor in nearly half of the past crashes.
When construction on the bridge, as it’s currently constituted, was completed in June 1928, it had the widest roadway in South Carolina, The State reported. Now, its lanes are each about four feet shorter in width than is recommended for bridges built today.
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This story was originally published March 15, 2026 at 8:24 AM.
