Officials led to believe “it’s not all driver error” after section of road claims 3 trucks in 5 days

A truck hauling packages flipped into a muddy ditch in South Carolina on Wednesday, marking the third truck claimed by this section of road in the last five days. 

The most recent accident on Highway 97 near the Kershaw County line happened on January 13th.

According to WSOC 9 News, there was thick fog at the time of the accident, but officers have not officially attributed weather as a cause of the most recent wreck. The driver was injured but was able to crawl out of the smashed cab on his own, and is expected to make a full recovery. 

Traffic alert. A truck carrying Amazon packages turned over on Hwy 97 in Lancaster County. This is very close to Kershaw County. Driver had minor injuries. Road will close once they begin removing the truck. Likely for several hours.

— Greg Suskin (@GSuskinWSOC9) January 13, 2021

County officials say that this is the third truck wreck on the same stretch of highway in the last five days, and are asking the state to reevaluate the road, as they believe it has design flaws that make it unsafe. They also claim the recent three truck wrecks are far from the first time this has happened. 

 Since last Friday, a garbage truck and a refrigerated rig hauling groceries crashed in the same spot in the same way. Additionally, just last month another tractor-trailer spilled a load of chemicals when it overturned on the same stretch of road. 

“We’ve had a lot of wrecks in that particular location. Concrete trucks, flat bed trucks with glass, Log trucks. I can’t tell you how many log trucks have flipped over into there,” said Emergency Management Director Darren Player, adding that the area is so rural, many companies are unable to even get a GPS location on their rig after it has wrecked in the area.

“When you have that many truck accidents, it would lead me to believe that it’s not all driver error.”

According to the state’s Department of Transportation, that particular stretch of Highway 97 is up for redesign and safety improvements, but there is not currently a timetable or budget for the project.