According to the South Carolina Highway Patrol, an SUV veered off Interstate 77 and crashed in Richland County on Wednesday morning, killing one person.
Master Trooper William Bennett said that the single-vehicle crash occurred around 7 a.m. It occurred on a stretch of I-77 near Exit 19, which connects with Farrow Road in Columbia.
According to Bennett, a 1999 Ford Expedition was going south on I-77 when it veered off to the right and collided with a tree.
Bennett added that the driver, the sole person in the Ford SUV, died at the site.
The Richland County Coroner’s Office has not officially identified the SUV driver.
There was no information on whether the driver was wearing a seat belt.
The cause of the SUV’s deviation off I-77 is unknown, but the Highway Patrol is still investigating the collision.
According to the state Department of Public Safety, 637 people have died on South Carolina roadways as of Sunday in 2025. According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, at least 948 persons were killed in collisions last year.
DPS data show that at least 33 individuals died in Richland County collisions in 2025. DPS reported 52 deaths in the county in 2024.
