DEADLY CRASH IN MIDLANDS! Summerville Man Killed, Another Driver Injured, Coroner Says

The South Carolina Highway Patrol said that one person died and another was injured in a crash on a Midlands road on Tuesday.

Whiteford Cornell McWaters, a 53-year-old Summerville man, died in the head-on collision, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said in a press release Wednesday.

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The two-vehicle incident occurred Tuesday around 2:10 p.m. in Lexington County, according to Master Trooper William Bennett of the Highway Patrol.

According to Bennett, McWaters was driving a 2005 Mazda SUV north on U.S. 321 when it was struck by a 2016 Dodge pickup moving south in the northbound lane at the intersection with Wilbur Road. That is in the Gaston area, near Interstate 26 Exit 119.

Bennett said the drivers were the only people in their vehicles, and both were transported to Lexington Medical Center.

McWaters, who was not wearing a seat belt, died in the hospital, according to Fisher.

More information about the Dodge driver’s condition was not provided.

No other injuries were reported.

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There was no indication of whether the Dodge driver was wearing a seat belt.

There was no information available regarding why the Dodge driver was driving toward oncoming traffic, and it was unclear whether the driver was facing any criminal charges. The Highway Patrol and the Coroner’s Office are still investigating the crash.

According to the state Department of Public Safety, 322 people have died on South Carolina roadways as of Monday in 2024. According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, 1,030 persons were killed in collisions last year.

DPS data show that at least 19 individuals died in Lexington County collisions in 2024. DPS recorded 45 deaths in the county in 2023.