Posted by ConcernedinCHS on March 28, 2008 at 11:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)

This is terrible. People relax and quit driving like idiots. Quit tailgating and relax!

How many more people need to die on 526 before people learn to relax! We have tractor trailers driving like they watched too much NASCAR. There are construction workers who think there is a magic bubble that keeps everything in the beds of their trucks. How many ladders, chairs, mattresses and other assorted garbage needs to be present before 526 is cleaned up?

It was just a few months ago when a tractor trailer rammed into the back of a car merging onto 526 from Remount causing a major pile up and killing what, like four people.

Posted by chucktonian on March 28, 2008 at 11:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

it's that hillbilly racing mentality. woo hoo! I'm drafting! I'm Little E! and you have the kid rock wannabees in their ricers trying to impress some white trash princess by going 98 miles an hour in their honda/acura/etc. write about a month's worth of $200 speeding tickets and start locking some people up, and people will slow down, but not until then.

what you tolerate WILL happen!

Posted by muscreader on March 28, 2008 at 1:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I would like to say that it looks like the fireman in the photo at least has his helmet on. A year ago, he probably wouldn't have had his equipment on to look at an accident like this. As much as I'm sure it is a pain for them, it looks like the media attention might be paying off as far as fireman safety. Hopefully, if they wear it in situations like this, they will start wearing it in situations like the MUSC fire a few days ago.

Posted by Harpo on March 28, 2008 at 2:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

chucktonian:

Well said and very true.

Post & Courier:

Seatbelts used? Please try to get stats on this in these
accident reports; it brings home just how few wear them and
how many die without them.

Posted by JohnS on March 28, 2008 at 2:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

With gas prices as high as they are people are doing more interstate drafting along I 26. Riding 4 to 6 inches off the bumper works well this fellow was saying.

Posted by RTC on March 28, 2008 at 3:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

NO name? Hopefully next of kin has been notified.
This is terribly sad, but most accidents occur on exit ramps not the on ramps....strange.

Posted by bjp99 on March 28, 2008 at 4:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

concerned...it was last July...

Posted by ridgerunner on March 28, 2008 at 5:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

how do yall know he wasnt run off road ? could have blown a tire or maybe went to sleep, i like how so many people can judge without evidence.

Posted by jammanofdi on March 28, 2008 at 5:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

bjp - No, it wasn't July - I think it was in September or so (I wasn't working for my current employer in July is the only way I can remember that). Nonetheless, 526 needs to be cleaned up, BUT- our overzealous police force's watching over 26/526 like Nazi's (as they have been all week) isn't helping either. I've almost been in a collision every day this week as people slam on the brakes and all change lanes as they realize they are being radar'ed. Our roads have become ridiculous!

Posted by muscreader on March 28, 2008 at 5:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)

ridgerunner: I saw this scene this morning, and I'll give some more information. This is a divided on ramp. There is a 4 foot (appx) median between the lanes. Where he went off the road and where his car came to a stop was about a 40-50 yards difference. There were parts of his car strewn throughout the length of this area. The speed limit there is 35.

Posted by mkhaynes on March 28, 2008 at 9:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

He may have died prior to going off the road - the story specifically says he was found dead in the car, not that he died in the accident. Not that inattentiveness and lack of responsibility don't cause most accidents - the story about the C of C student and the motorcyclist who both died are more examples that should remind us that the most dangerous things the vast majority of us do on any day is get behind the wheel and out on the road. People seem to forget just how dangerous their vehicles can be and don't pay enough attention to what they're doing. Be it speeding (and then braking stupidly to avoid being caught on a radar going 5 miles over the speed limit) or changing lanes without signalling or taking an exit ramp too fast.

Posted by mkhaynes on March 28, 2008 at 9:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Harpo -

I'm up here in VA, and there was a story in the paper the other day about our fine state, saying that 20% of drivers don't wear seat belts and account for 40% of the deaths. This the day before there was a story about a man being sentenced to a year in prison for turning in front of an off-duty officer who lost control and was thrown from his vehicle and died because he wasn't wearing his seat belt. There are still too many people who believe that wearing seat belts is more dangerous than not wearing them. You're right, every time there is a story about a car accident and someone in a car dying, the stat's should be repeated.

Posted by wonderdog on March 28, 2008 at 9:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I work on Daniel Island and saw the emergency vehicles, etc. there this morning. This vehicle was not even on 526. He was approaching 526W on the ramp from Daniel Island. I believe we can expect the news to report "Speed is believed to be a factor".

jammanofdi, if people are driving less than 20 mph over the speed limit, they have no reason to slam on the brakes when they see a cop. I'm all for having the people who drive 85-90+ mph on 526 daily decide to slow it down because of visible "overzealous" police.

Posted by bjp99 on March 28, 2008 at 11:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Jam...

My good friend's brother Gary was killed in that accident. It was July 15th. Unless you are talking about a different accident. This was the one right beside the North Rhett on ramp...

Posted by ridgerunner on March 29, 2008 at 6:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

muscrader thanks for info so many things can happen now, I live in the upstate most of the year, and just last week, i was passed by 2 cars one firing shots at the other as they passed, 3 people were shot but i think still alive and around here hit and run accidents have trippled, and drive bys are a daily thing, the other time of the year i am at Edisto, with a lot of trips in charleston but i dont really see all of the stupid stuff there i see up here, even i know it happens.