Coroner identifies man killed in wrong-way crash on Beaufort County highway
A Ridgeland man was identified as the person killed in a wrong-way crash on a Beaufort County highway last week.
Michael Blankenship Jr., 35, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on S.C. 170 (Okatie Highway) Wednesday night, according to the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.
Blankenship was driving a 2009 Toyota sedan around 11:15 p.m. when a 2019 Infiniti QX50, traveling south on the northbound side of the highway, struck his vehicle “head on,” the South Carolina Highway Patrol said.
The operator of the Infiniti was taken to Savannah’s Memorial Health University Medical Center for their injuries, according to the SCHP. It was unclear whether the wrong-way driver would be criminally charged for the fatal crash as SCHP continued to investigate.
Blankenship’s obituary describes him as a “loving, passionate human being” who cared deeply about his family and friends, his jobs in the food service industry and his participation in the Savannah-area darts scene.
“Michael was a person filled with unwavering love for his family and friends,” the obituary reads. “He was fiercely protective of who he loved, defending them at a moment’s notice if the occasion ever arrived.”
The collision happened near the highway’s intersection with Oldfield Way, which serves as the entrance to the Oldfield Club gated community.
Wednesday night’s deadly collision marked the sixth traffic fatality in Beaufort and Jasper counties so far this year. Four of those deaths stemmed from a series of unrelated crashes during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend.
Blankenship’s memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday at Leefield Baptist Church in Bulloch County, Georgia, according to his obituary.
