Last week, a Lexington County teenager was killed in an auto accident just 11 days after graduating from high school.
The 18-year-old former Gilbert High football player, who had planned to attend the University of South Carolina later this year, was driving home when his car drifted off Cedar Grove Road and struck several trees near Leesville. His father said he was about two minutes from their house.
Unfortunately, quite a few Columbia-area families are dealing with similar tragedies. We’re not even half-way through 2018, but more than a dozen serious accidents have left several people dead and many more injured in the Columbia, SC area.
Like the Leesville crash, some happen on secondary roads. Some involve just one vehicle. But, not surprisingly, several accidents have left travelers dead or hospitalized and shut down one or more lanes of traffic on Interstates 26 and 20.
Car Crashes in Columbia and Lexington, SC
Here are a few of the area accidents that have happened this year:
- On May 31, a 9-year-old boy was killed in a car accident on Interstate 20 near Bush River Road in Lexington County, SC. The car in which the boy was a passenger struck a vehicle whose driver had stopped in the left lane of I-20 to help another driver whose vehicle broke down in the center lane.
- On May 25, an accident involving five cars briefly shut down Interstate 26 at the U.S. 378 exit in Lexington, SC. The SC Highway Patrol said several people were injured and one person was trapped in a vehicle.
- Just a few days earlier, multiple lanes on I-26 were shut down after multiple people were injured in a crash at Harbison Blvd in Columbia, SC. A helicopter responded to the accident, landing on the highway during early afternoon traffic.
- In early May, Interstate 20 in Lexington County was closed for several hours after a 10-vehicle crash left one dead and four hospitalized. The accident involved at least two tractor-trailers, and the SC Highway Patrol said one lane was badly damaged by fire caused by the crash.
- In March, a 32-year-old woman and her 3-year-old son were killed on Old Dunbar Road just outside of Cayce, SC when their vehicle drifted across the center lane and struck a semi head-on.
- A 34-year-old Irmo woman was killed in February after her car drifted off I-26 and struck a tree at the Exit 97 ramp in Richland County.
Auto Accident Attorneys in Columbia, Richland County, and Lexington, SC
If you have been hurt in an accident in Richland County, Lexington County, or the SC midlands area, call the SC auto accident lawyers at Coastal Law now at (843) 488-5000 or message us online for a free evaluation of your case and to find out how we can help to get full compensation for your injuries.
