The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces a preliminary number of five persons killed on South Carolina roadways from Friday, March 21, at 6 p.m. until Sunday, March 23, at midnight.
As of March 23, 150 people have died on South Carolina highways, compared to 149 highway deaths during the same time period in 2013. 120 of the 150 fatalities were motor vehicle occupants. just over half – 64 – were not wearing a seat belt. Other highway fatalities included 17 Pedestrians, 10 motorcyclists and 2 bicyclists.
Laurens County’s highway fatalities for 2014 are now even with last year for this time of year, with 2 fatalities this year and last as of March 23rd. Union County is also even with last year, with no fatalities for either year at this time.
With a fatality this past weekend, Newberry County now has higher highway deaths for the year, with 2, compared with just 1 for the same time in 2013. Checking other neighboring counties, Saluda has 3 this year, compared to none this time last year. Abbeville County is up from 1 to 3; Spartanburg County has 7, up 1 from this time last year. Greenville County is up from 12 in 2013 to 16 in 2014.
Some neighboring counties are down for the year, as of midnight Sunday. Anderson County dropped from 7 to 5, Greenwood County has dropped from 2 this time in 2013 to 0 for 2014.