A 61-year-old Pauline man has died weeks after a crash between a vehicle and his moped left him hospitalized, according to the Spartanburg County Coroner's Office. Herbert L. Jackson was pronounced dead around 4:34 p.m. on August 31, more than two weeks after the collision happened on the very street where he lived.
The Spartanburg County Coroner's Office identified Jackson and said he died weeks after the crash, as first reported by FOX Carolina News. The crash happened near the 870 block of Shiloh Church Road in Pauline on August 12, and Jackson lived at an address on that same road, per the coroner's office. Coroner's officials were called to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center following his death, the station reported.
A forensic exam for Jackson is scheduled for Tuesday, according to the coroner's office. As of Tuesday, September 1, authorities had not publicly disclosed additional details regarding what contributed to the crash, how fast the vehicle involved was traveling, or whether charges would be filed against its driver, according to a report relayed by Malarkey_News on Facebook.
What South Carolina Law Requires for Moped Riders
South Carolina's Moped Safety Act, enacted in 2018, requires anyone operating a moped on public roadways to register it with the state Department of Motor Vehicles for a $10 fee every two years and display a state-issued license plate, according to the Clemson University Police Department. The law also restricts moped operation to roads with posted speed limits of 55 mph or less, caps moped travel speeds at 35 mph, requires riders to stay in the farthest right lane except when turning left, and mandates helmets for riders under 21.
It remains unclear which vehicle had the right of way in the Shiloh Church Road crash, whether visibility played a role, or how fast the vehicle was traveling — questions that so far remain unanswered by investigators. Under South Carolina Code § 56-5-1270, officers investigating a crash resulting in injury or death are required to file a formal written collision report with the Department of Motor Vehicles, a process Hoodline detailed in earlier coverage of a fatal Spartanburg County crash.
A County That Leads the State in Traffic Deaths
Spartanburg County routinely leads South Carolina in overall traffic fatalities and sits within South Carolina Highway Patrol Troop 3, which covers traffic enforcement across five Upstate counties including Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens. Jackson's death adds to a string of recent fatal crashes in the county, following a wrong-way I-85 crash and a motorcycle crash in Boiling Springs the coroner identified in July.
Statewide, moped and motorcycle riders face outsized risk on South Carolina roads. The South Carolina Department of Transportation's 2025–2029 Strategic Highway Safety Plan found the state averaged 156 fatal and 452 serious-injury motorcycle and moped crashes annually between 2019 and 2023, citing excessive speed for conditions and failure to yield as leading factors in fatal two-wheeler crashes. Separately, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety recorded 25 moped fatalities statewide in 2023, according to the Joye Law Firm.
More recent state figures show some improvement. Preliminary South Carolina Department of Public Safety statistics recorded 572 total traffic fatalities statewide through August 28, down from 630 during the same period in 2025, with motorcyclist deaths dropping from 102 to 87 year-over-year. Federal crash data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration points to failure to yield by motor vehicle drivers — particularly during left turns — and speed differentials in rear-end impacts as common causes of multi-vehicle moped collisions, a pattern echoed in a fatal Rock Hill moped case earlier this year.
No further details about the circumstances of the crash that led to Jackson's death have been released. His forensic exam Tuesday is expected to provide additional information, according to the coroner's office.
