Motorcycle rider run over in Lexington County, SC crash

A Midlands man riding a motorcycle was killed in an overnight crash on a major highway running through Lexington County, the coroner’s office said.

Christopher James Prewitt died at the scene of the collision, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said in a news release.

The wreck happened at about 1 a.m. Saturday near the 118 mile marker on an eastbound lane of Interstate 26, Fisher said. That’s close to Exit 116, the junction with Interstate 77 to Charlotte.

The 34-year-old Elgin resident was not wearing a helmet when he was involved in a single-vehicle collision, according to the release. After being ejected from the motorcycle, Prewitt was hit by two other vehicles, Fisher said.

No other injuries were reported by the coroner’s office.

Information on what caused Prewitt to be thrown from the motorcycle was not available.

Through the first nine days of 2021, two motorcycle riders are among the at least 22 people killed in collisions on South Carolina roads, according to the Department of Public Safety. This marks the first crash victim of the new year who was not wearing a helmet after a rider died in Greenville County on Jan. 3, the data show.

Overall, 1,017 people died on South Carolina roads in 2020, DPS reported. Of those, 106 were motorcycle riders, and 71 of the crash victims were not wearing a helmet, according to DPS.

This was not the first fatal collision in Lexington County in 2021.

On Thursday, two people were killed in a wreck in the 6100 block of Augusta Highway, DPS reported.

Marty Ray Harmon, 55, of Gilbert and Donna Tuttle, 71, of Elgin died at the scene after Tuttle’s southbound vehicle crossed the center line and collided head-on with the car Harmon was driving in the opposite direction, Fisher said.

Both of the collisions are being investigated by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.