Motorcyclist killed in four-vehicle crash on Buckwalter Pkwy in Bluffton Sunday evening
A four-vehicle crash on U.S. 278 Sunday evening killed one motorcyclist and sent two drivers to the hospital with injuries, closing Buckwalter Pkwy for several hours and slowing traffic in the Bluffton area during a night of heavy thunderstorms.
The deceased motorcyclist, who rode a 2000 Honda motorcycle, remains unidentified as officials search for a next of kin, said David Ott of the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office. Ott would not say whether an autopsy would be conducted.
The crash took place just after 7 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Buckwalter and U.S 278, when a 2000 four-door Toyota driving east on the interstate collided with a 2019 Mercedes SUV and a 2000 Honda motorcycle coming off Buckwalter, according to Lance Cpl. Nick Pye of the SC Highway Patrol. The motorcycle then crashed into a 2020 Chevrolet SUV, in which neither the driver nor passenger were injured.
Bluffton firefighters used heavy extrication equipment to remove the driver of the Mercedes, who was trapped inside his vehicle, according to a Monday morning press release from the Bluffton Township Fire District. That driver and the driver of the Toyota were both taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah with non-fatal injuries.
Officials closed the northernmost portion of Buckwalter Pkwy until late Sunday night, when the intersection reopened to traffic.
The crash is under investigation by the SC Highway Patrol and the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.
This story was originally published August 7, 2023 at 11:21 AM.
