Man drove wrong way on Hilton Head bridge in crash that killed 3, new report confirms
A Ridgeland man in a silver pickup truck was driving toward Hilton Head Island on the wrong side of the bridge when he crashed head-on with another car in May, a S.C. Highway Patrol report found.
That driver, Tyler Cameron Carroll, 23, was killed in the May 1 crash, along with two others in the car he collided with: Jonathan Daniel Green, 27, of Hardeeville and Jordan Amari Johnson, 21, of Ridgeland.
The SCHP report, recently released after a Freedom of Information Act request, is the first official determination of who the wrong-way driver was in the devastating crash, as the agency previously declined to say while it was under investigation.
The agency interviewed victims involved, mapped out the crash after the fact, and collected forensic evidence from the cars that collided.
The crash occurred around 2 a.m. on the span of bridge heading toward Bluffton.
Green, driving a burgundy Ford Fusion, was heading back from a night at the collection of bars on Hilton Head’s south end known as the “Barmuda Triangle.”
Bridgett Green, his wife, told an SCHP investigator that “they left the (Triangle) early on the prompting of her husband to avoid any possible drunk drivers on the road.”
Earlier in the night, Carroll was allegedly drinking at Corks Wine Company in Bluffton, then drank at the Barmuda Triangle on Hilton Head, according to a recent lawsuit. The suit accuses the bars of over-serving him.
The SCHP report says Carroll was heading in the direction of Hilton Head at 2 a.m. but does not say why.
Carroll, wearing a seat belt in a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, was driving 82 mph on the wrong side of the bridge. The speed limit on the bridge is 55 mph.
Neither Green nor Johnson was wearing a seat belt.
Carroll’s pickup truck tumbled over the bridge as a result of the crash. His cause of death was drowning, according to Beaufort County Coroner David Ott. The crash killed Johnson and Green.
Intoxicated driving?
Carroll’s blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.176, according to Ott. The BAC of Green, in the car that was struck, was slightly higher — 0.18. Ott arrived at the numbers by running toxicology tests on the two men following their autopsies.
Both men were significantly above the legal limit to drive in South Carolina, which is 0.08, according to the S.C. Department of Public Safety.
Before hitting Green’s car, Carroll encountered another driver near the Bluffton Parkway exit who was able to swerve out of the way.
That driver “stated he pulled into the median to avoid a collision and yelled at the driver, who did not stop but did slow down,” according to the report.
The driver said he didn’t realize he knew Carroll until the following day when he heard the news of the crash, the report said.
“He also stated he had seen Snapchat videos of the driver of the truck drinking at a bar prior (to) the collision,” an investigator wrote.
Crash lawsuits
Three lawsuits have been filed as a result of the collision, brought by Green’s wife, Bridgett Green, and Green’s mother, Twyla Reynolds. Reynolds is suing as guardian of the estate of Green’s sister, who was also in the car that night and survived.
Both Bridgett Green and Green’s sister, Lucian Reynolds, were “permanently injured” as a result of the wreck, according to their attorney, Roberts “Tabor” Vaux Jr.
The defendants are the two largest restaurant groups on Hilton Head: Coastal Restaurants and Bars (CRAB) and Southeastern Entertainment Restaurant Group (SERG).
The groups own restaurants inside the Triangle that are named in the lawsuits. They include One Hot Mama’s, Reilley’s Grill & Bar, the Boardroom. The lawsuits also name Brother Shuckers within the Triangle and Corks in Bluffton, which are not owned by CRAB or SERG.
The lawsuits allege Carroll was over-served alcohol the night of the crash. They accuse the Triangle owners of negligence because “patrons routinely and freely take alcohol they were served or sold at one establishment to other establishments and/or to the common areas.” The practice makes it impossible for bartenders and security to count a person’s drinks, the lawsuits allege.
In court filings, CRAB argued it should not be held responsible because CRAB is not a certified entity under the state; it’s just a “marketing/tradename utilized by various restaurants.” CRAB doesn’t own the restaurants in the Triangle, the filings argue.
Each restaurant under CRAB and SERG is independently owned and operated by its own LLC.
In separate court filings, both restaurant groups denied the lawsuits’ allegations of negligence.
‘I can never see him again’
The May crash was a tragic loss of life, killing three people in their early- to late-20s.
Jordan Johnson, 21, was studying art therapy at Converse College in Spartanburg and was a few weeks away from graduating.
“There was never a dull moment with her,” a friend from their days at Whale Branch Early College High School told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette following the crash.
Green was an information science and technology major at the University of South Carolina Beaufort at its Bluffton campus. He had a very close relationship with his sister, who survived the crash, one friend said.
“They always knew that family was bigger than any problem that was going on,” the friend said.
Tyler Carroll’s mother, Jillian, said her son would light up in a room with the people he cared about. Family was important to him, as was hunting, fishing, and his black Labrador.
“It just doesn’t seem right I can never see him again,” she said.
