Another car ends up in the marsh at notorious Beaufort curve. Here’s what to know
Firefighters have pulled another car out of Beaufort River marsh after the driver failed to make the notoriously tricky turn on a curvy stretch in Beaufort where residents have demanded improvements in the past.
At about 5:45 a.m. Monday, the Beaufort/Port Royal Fire Department responded to a vehicle that went down the embankment at Bellamy Curve. The roadway was briefly blocked as the car was pulled from the marsh.
There were no injuries reported, according to the fire department.
Bellamy Curve, named after a prominent Beaufort family, connects Carteret Street and downtown Beaufort with Boundary Street and uptown. The well-known juncture, where traffic is supposed to slow to 15 mph, offers a sweeping view of the Beaufort River, which lies just to the east.
Other crashes at Bellamy Curve in Beaufort
Despite the lowered speed limit at the sharp bend, cars are known to careen into the marsh there.
In March 2025, a high-speed police pursuit sent a Dodge Charger off the sharp bend and into the pluff mud.
In July 2024, a resident was struck by a car and seriously injured while walking on the sidewalk next to the curve more than year ago.
Calls for improvements
Residents have called for improvements to Bellamy Curve to make it safer. The city held talks with the SCDOT last year.
At that time, SCDOT said it was planning to stripe the road and put in raised pavement markers to better alert drives to the curve. Those changes have since been implemented.
But City Manager Scott Marshall said there’s been no movement on an elevated boardwalk farther from the curve, which also was discussed.
Some of the most frequent users of the sidewalk parallel to the curve area are University of South Carolina Beaufort students walking between the campus on Carteret and student housing on Boundary
