Driver killed in head-on crash with tractor trailer on Midlands road, SC cops say

One person was killed overnight when a car was in a head-on crash with a tractor trailer on a Midlands road, the South Carolina Highway Patrol said.

The two-vehicle collision happened at about 1:30 a.m., near the intersection of U.S. 301/Five Chop Road and Carriage Hill Road, according to Master Trooper David Jones. That’s in Orangeburg County, in the area between Interstate 95 and U.S. 176.

A 2011 Ford Taurus was driving north in the southbound lanes of U.S. 301 when it hit an oncoming 2019 Freightliner tractor trailer, Jones said.

The Ford driver died at the scene, according to Jones.

The Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office has not publicly identified the Ford driver.

Jones said the truck driver was not hurt, and no other injuries were reported.

There was no word if anyone involved in the collision wore a seat belt.

Information about why the Ford veered into oncoming traffic was not available, but the crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol.

This is the second fatal collision in Orangeburg County in little more than a week.

On July 30, a Midlands woman was killed at the scene of a head-on collision, and two days later another South Carolina resident died at a Richland County hospital from injuries he suffered in that same crash, the Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office

Through Thursday, 597 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 20 people have died in Orangeburg County crashes in 2022, DPS reported. Last year, 45 deaths were reported there, according to DPS data.