Clemson CB Davis hit mail carrier truck at 70 mph, according to released report
A Clemson football player slammed on brakes before he crashed into the back of a mail carrier at 70 mph.
That detail and more are in a supplemental report regarding Clemson sophomore cornerback Fred Davis’s car wreck that was released by Clemson police on Monday morning.
According to the report, Davis was driving a 2021 Dodge Charger with a temporary Alabama plate at 115 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone going southbound on Highway 123 before Highway 93 on the afternoon of July 21. He left 290 feet of skid marks and lost 45 mph, hitting the USPS mail carrier truck, which was still in motion, at 70 mph.
“Further time and distance studies were conducted and it was determined that at the traveling speed of 115MPH Davis closed a distance of approximately 833 feet in five seconds,” the report stated.
On Sunday, Davis turned himself in to Clemson police to face a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. He was booked and released.
“Had Davis been operating his vehicle in a safe manner this collision would not have occurred,” the report concludes, noting Davis had plenty of space to stop safely if he had been driving within the speed limit.
Clemson athletics told The State on Sunday that Davis remains with the team and will be subject to “internal discipline for misdemeanor charges” in line with the Clemson Student-Athlete Handbook.
Police responded to the accident at 3:05 pm.
A total of four cars were either directly or indirectly involved in the accident. Two vehicles were badly damaged and over the guardrail in the culvert, which is a tunnel carrying a stream under a road.
Upon the police officer’s arrival to the culvert, the USPS mail truck was upside down and the mail carrier was still buckled in with a seat belt around her waist but hanging partially outside of the vehicle upside down. She was safely removed from the vehicle and EMS transported her to Greenville Memorial Hospital. Police said Sunday the woman was severely injured and likely faces months of recovery time from her injuries.
Davis was driving a black Dodge Charger with Alabama license plates and gave officers a written statement. After he later began complaining about a leg injury, EMS transported him to Oconee Medical Center.
Besides Davis and the mail carrier, two other vehicles in the opposite lane collided when they tried to avoid the initial wreck, the police report says. One of those cars was carrying a 3-year-old girl. No one from those cars reported any injuries in the report.
In a statement, Clemson Police Chief Jorge Campos lamented that South Carolina has no enhancement penalties for reckless driving resulting in injury, meaning Davis only faces a misdemeanor charge despite the severity of the injuries to the mail carrier.
“In most cases, the injured suffer much pain, multiple medical procedures, lengthy recovery times, and whose freedom to live life injury-free are taken from them,” Campos said. “The offender, especially if they are not hurt, currently only have a few hurdles to navigate and get to live life freely, which the injured do not.”.
