Head-on crash kills 20-year-old man and hurts others, Lexington County coroner says

One person is dead and two others were injured in a head-on crash on a Lexington County road Tuesday night, according to South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Andrew William Day was identified as the driver who was killed, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher. The 20-year-old Gaston resident died at the scene, Fisher said.

The two-vehicle collision happened at about 8:45 p.m. on Edmund Highway in South Congaree, said Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell.

Day was driving a 2013 Chevrolet Cruze heading east on the road, and when it was near the intersection with Tina Drive the car was hit by a 2000 GMC Yukon traveling in the opposite direction, according to Tidwell. That’s about 8 miles south of Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

The westbound SUV had crossed the center line and into the path of the oncoming Chevy, Tidwell said.

Day was not wearing a seat belt, according to Tidwell.

A passenger in the Chevy and the driver of the GMC were both hurt in the wreck and were taken to a Prisma Health hospital in Richland County, Tidwell said.

Further information on their conditions was not available, and there was no word if either wore a seat belt.

No other injuries were reported by Highway Patrol.

Information on what caused the SUV to veer into oncoming traffic was not available. There was no word on possible criminal charges, but the collision remains under investigation by Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.

Through Tuesday afternoon, 492 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2021, state Department of Public Safety data shows. Of those, 338 had access to seat belts, but 169 were not wearing them, DPS reported.

At least 24 people have been killed in Lexington County crashes in 2021, and seat belts were not used in 13 of the deaths, according to DPS.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.