A Laurens County SC car wreck kills one driver when the car hit trees off the roadway according to media outlets that are reporting about the car wreck.

Troopers with the South Carolina Highway Patrol told media outlets that a person driving a 1992 Chevrolet pickup truck went onto the side of the road on Fleming Mill Road and struck two trees. The driver of the vehicle was transported by air helicopter and later succumbed to his injuries, according to the Laurens County Coroner in media reports.

This Laurens County car wreck is an example of a single vehicle accident. Single vehicle accidents are very common in South Carolina. There are a number of causes of single vehicle car wrecks including: improperly maintained roadways, improperly maintained road shoulders, lack of safety guardrails, defective vehicles, and other causes.

The key for any family wanting to know what happened in a single vehicle car wreck is to act quickly after the car wreck. The South Carolina Highway Patrol M.A.I.T. investigative unit will compile a report in almost all car wrecks involving a fatality. Those reports will contain key facts including measurements and other details. However, an attorney should be retained immediately after the accident so that the attorney’s investigative team can get to the scene immediately to take pictures of the scene and examine the roadway or shoulder for defects that could have caused loss of control. Also, it is vitally important to take witness statements from any possible witnesses.

One common scenario involving single vehicle car accidents is improperly maintained highway shoulders.  If the shoulder of the road is too high or too low, it can cause a vehicle using the shoulder of the road to lose control and wreck.

Usually, the immediate reaction in a single vehicle car wreck is to blame the driver for running off the paved roadway.  However, that is just the first question and the first fact that begins the journey in determining what happened in the car wreck.  Also, it is very important to remember that a driver has the right to use the shoulder of the road, even if the shoulder is unpaved.  That is why the shoulder must be kept in a safe condition so that a driver can use the shoulder, if necessary.

Any time a person dies in a car wreck it is a tragedy.  Car wrecks can be prevented, though.  I would caution everyone never to immediately place blame on a driver involved in a single vehicle accident.  The most likely scenario is that there were factors outside the control of the driver that actually caused the car wreck to occur. If those factors had not been present, the car wreck would most probably never have occurred.

This Laurens County SC car wreck case is a tragedy. But too little information is being reported in the media about the cause of the accident. Hopefully a full investigation will be performed and the family will have the answers.