Teen driver dies after being thrown from flipping car, SC coroner says
A teenage driver died Thursday morning, hours after crashing into another vehicle on a South Carolina road, the Aiken County Coroner’s Office said.
Tayron Kirkland, a 16-year-old Graniteville resident, was killed from injuries he suffered in the Wednesday afternoon accident, Coroner Darryl Ables said in a news release.
The two-vehicle collision happened at about 4 p.m. Wednesday in the 2000 block of U.S. 78/Jefferson Davis Highway, according to the release. That’s in Graniteville, near the campus of Aiken Technical College.
Kirkland was driving a 2013 Honda Accord east on Jefferson Davis Highway and was changing lanes when the car hit the rear of another eastbound vehicle, Ables said.
The Honda flipped over and Kirkland, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the car, according to the release.
The teen was taken to an area hospital where he died Thursday, Ables said.
No other injuries were reported.
The collision continues to be investigated by the coroner’s office and Burnettown Police Department. Toxicology analysis is pending, Ables said.
Through Sunday, 346 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 14 people have died in Aiken County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, 29 deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported.
