Driver hospitalized, passenger killed after SUV strikes tree along I-95 in Jasper County
One person was killed and another hospitalized after a crash on Interstate 95 in Jasper County early Saturday.
Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell of the S.C. Highway Patrol said only one vehicle, a 2007 Ford Expedition, was involved.
Six people were in the SUV headed south on the interstate about 4 miles north of Ridgeland just before 5 a.m. when it veered off the right side of the road, struck an embankment, struck a tree and overturned, Tidwell said.
The driver of the vehicle was taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, and the front passenger died at the scene, Tidwell said. Four other passengers were not injured.
Jasper County Coroner Willie Aiken III said around noon Saturday the identity of the driver had not been released.
In 2017, an Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette investigation found that more motorists were dying in tree-related wrecks along I-95 in Jasper County than anywhere else along I-95 in South Carolina. As a result, the S.C. Department of the Transportation spent $9 million to improve safety along the 33-mile stretch often called “the coffin corridor.”
The project included installation of rumble strips and cable barriers, plus removal of trees on either side of the highway.
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This story was originally published May 28, 2022 at 12:42 PM.
