South Carolina man killed in head-on crash, Lexington County coroner says
A Columbia man was killed on Christmas Eve when the car he was driving was involved in a head-on crash, the Lexington County Coroner’s Office said.
Dwane Zedekiah Sturkie, 77, is the driver who died in the accident, Coroner Margaret Fisher said in a news release.
The two-vehicle collision happened on Dec. 24 at about 1 a.m. in the 1100 block of Main Street, according to the release. That’s in the South Congaree area of Lexington County.
Sturkie was driving east on Main Street when a westbound vehicle crossed the center line and hit him head-on, Fisher said.
Sturkie was taken to an area hospital where he later died from the injuries he suffered in the crash, according to the release.
The other driver was also taken to an area hospital, with what the coroner’s office called non-life-threatening injuries. Further information about the surviving driver’s condition was not available.
No other injuries were reported.
There was no word if either of the drivers were wearing seat belts.
Information about what caused the westbound vehicle to veer into oncoming traffic was not available, but the crash continues to be investigated by the coroner’s office and the South Congaree Police Department.
Through Sunday, 953 people have 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 44 people have died in Lexington County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. There were 43 deaths reported in the county in 2022, DPS reported.
