Crash involving tree along Jasper County’s ‘Coffin Corridor’ claims another life

I-95’s “Coffin Corridor” has claimed another victim, after a single-vehicle crash in which a passenger was killed when the car left the road and hit a tree.

The crash was reported around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday near the 16-mile marker, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol. A female passenger was killed; her name had not been made public on Wednesday evening.

The area falls within the miles along I-95 that were found to be particularly deadly in a February 2015 report by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette that led to the S.C. Department of Transportation initiating plans to clear trees from the median and sides of the roadway.

“Just waiting on work to begin,” said Hardeeville Police Chief Sam Woodward, who has repeatedly pushed for trimming of the trees. “It can’t get done soon enough.”

Reporting by the newspapers showed that Jasper County’s portion of I-95, which includes the main gateway to Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, had an unusually high rate of fatalities compared with the rest of the state, in large part because the proximity of trees to the highway failed to give drivers time to correct or stop safely. Approximately 75 percent of the fatalities along the Jasper stretch involved vehicles hitting trees.

From 2010 through 2016, at least 30 tree-related fatalities have occurred along Jasper County’s deadly stretch of I-95, according to the Office of Highway Safety. At least six of those deaths occurred after DOT’s announcement to remove trees along the interstate’s edges and median in early 2015. Among the victims include James Matthew Eddins, a N.C. truck driver, and Sharon Toomer, a Ridgeland resident and longtime cafeteria worker at Hardeeville Elementary School.

In much of Jasper County, trees are within 15 or 20 feet from the road.

State highway safety guidelines recommend a clear zone of at least 30 feet.

DOT is aiming for a 55-foot clear zone along both sides of the highway and in the median from the Georgia state line to mile marker 32.5. The $6 million to $8 million federally funded project is expected to take 12 to 18 months.

DOT originally estimated work to begin in 2016, but construction is now slated to begin at the end of the summer of 2017. Avoiding cost overruns and adapting to new technology prompted some of the delays. A similar tree-cutting project in the Charleston area received a wave of political backlash from legislators and environmentalists, causing DOT to reassess its plan. DOT officials have denied the outcry associated with that project has influenced the Jasper County work.

In Tuesday’s wreck, Eduardo Zanza, 57, of Florida, was driving a 2016 Cadillac SUV that ran off the right side of the roadway, struck a tree and then overturned.

Jasper County Coroner Martin Sauls III could not provide the victim’s name on Wednesday afternoon because her family has not yet been notified.

Two others passengers, along with Zanza, were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

The crash remains under investigation by the S.C. Highway Patrol. Jasper County Fire-Rescue assisted at the scene.

This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 8:25 AM with the headline "Crash involving tree along Jasper County’s ‘Coffin Corridor’ claims another life."