Pickup truck crashes into mailbox and tree then flips over, killing driver, SC cops say
A Georgia man was killed Saturday in an early-morning crash, according to the Aiken County Coroner’s Office.
Stephen A. Hicks, a 36-year-old Augusta resident, died in the accident, Coroner Darryl Ables said in a news release.
The single-vehicle collision happened after 1:30 a.m. in the Graniteville area, according to Lance Cpl. Lena Butler of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Hicks was driving a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado east on Chalk Bed Road, and near the intersection with Breezy Hill Road the pickup truck ran off the right side of the road, Ables said. The pickup hit a mailbox before crashing into a tree and flipping over, according to Butler.
Hicks, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered blunt force injuries and died at the scene, according to Ables.
Butler said Hicks was the only person in the Chevy, and no other injuries were reported.
Information about what caused the Chevy to run off the road was not available, but the crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office. Toxicology analysis is pending, Ables said.
More deadly crashes
This is at least the third person who has died following an Aiken County crash since Saturday morning — and the fourth in the past week.
On Sunday at about 2 a.m., a 24-year-old North Augusta resident died when he lost control of the motorcycle he was riding and was thrown from the Ducati, according to Ables.
About 13 hours earlier on Saturday, at about 1:15 p.m., a 49-year-old Newberry resident was killed when a Chevrolet pickup truck hit a tree, Ables said.
On July 31, a 60-year-old Aiken man died days after the tractor trailer he was driving rolled over while entering Interstate 20, the coroner’s office said.
Through July 30, 577 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2023, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,091 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
At least 24 people have died in Aiken County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, 29 deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported.
