Update: Driver dies in wreck Monday in Hardeeville on I-95; promps more calls for tree cutting
The driver of a tractor-trailer died Monday morning after running off Interstate 95 in Hardeeville, hitting several trees and stopping in a canal.
James Matthew Eddins, 75, of Moncure, N.C., was found dead at about 7:30 a.m. in the median of northbound I-95 near mile marker 13. While the tractor trailer hit several trees, Jasper County Coroner Martin Sauls III said it appeared the death was caused by a medical condition and not from the impact.
An autopsy will be conducted, he said.
The cause of the wreck is still being investigated, Police Chief Sam Woodward said. The trailer was empty, and the driver was the only occupant. No other vehicles were involved.
Eddins was an independent trucker. His son was riding ahead of him in a tractor trailer and looked in his rearview mirror and no longer saw his father. He called on his CB radio, but his dad did not answer. Another trucker answered and mentioned the wreck. By the time the son had reached the wreck scene, EMS and firefighters were there, Sauls said.
Though hitting trees might not have caused the tractor-trailer driver's death, Woodward renewed his call on the state to cut trees along the highway for safety. He said the cab of the tractor trailer had heavy damage, and he wondered whether hitting the trees prevented the driver from being saved.
Trees on the section where the tractor-trailer crashed appeared to be about 10 feet from the edge of the road.
The 35-mile stretch of I-95 in Jasper County has been the site of 16 deaths from tree-related crashes during the past five years. That's more than any other S.C. county along the interstate, leading some to call it the "coffin corridor."
The S.C. Department of Transportation is studying Jasper County's section of I-95 for work that would include safety improvements, such as cutting trees and adding cable barriers, DOT officials say. The state plans to use federal funding, which would require a state match. But the money won't be available until January 2017, said Joy Riley, DOT traffic engineer.
She added that because the area contains wetlands, the DOT must get environmental permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could take until 2017.
"I think that's entirely too long," Woodward said. "How many lives do you have to lose between now and 2017?"
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This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Update: Driver dies in wreck Monday in Hardeeville on I-95; promps more calls for tree cutting."