A three-car chain-reaction crash on U.S. 76 near Marigold Street in Florence County left one driver dead and another injured on Sunday afternoon, after a sedan was struck from behind, careened into a third vehicle, and then overturned. South Carolina Highway Patrol said the crash happened around 5:10 p.m. as all three vehicles were traveling east on U.S. 76.
How the Chain Reaction Unfolded
According to WPDE, a 2012 Mercedes sedan struck the back of a 2025 Toyota sedan, which was then pushed into a 2022 Hyundai sedan traveling ahead of it. The impact sent the Toyota veering to the right, while the Mercedes lost control and overturned. The driver of the Mercedes died at the scene, and the Toyota driver was taken to a local hospital with injuries. No one in the Hyundai was reported injured.
South Carolina Highway Patrol is still investigating the crash, and the station's report does not yet indicate whether speed, mechanical failure, or impairment played a role, nor whether seat belts were in use. Troopers have not released the identity of the driver who died.
A Familiar Pattern on Florence's Busiest Roads
Rear-end collisions can lead to secondary crashes. Under South Carolina Code § 56-5-1930(A), drivers are legally prohibited from following another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent given speed, traffic, and road conditions — a standard troopers routinely weigh when investigating chain-reaction wrecks like Sunday's. A related statute, South Carolina Code § 56-5-1520, requires motorists to control their speed as necessary to avoid colliding with any person or vehicle on the highway.
U.S. 76 is one of Florence County's primary east-west arteries, alongside Interstate 95, Interstate 20, U.S. 52, and S.C. 327, and it carries heavy volumes of commuter and commercial freight traffic daily, according to the Steinberg Law Firm. That traffic density is part of what makes multi-vehicle pileups like Sunday's especially dangerous once an initial rear-end impact sets off a secondary collision.
Rollovers Remain a Leading Cause of Fatal Crashes
Sunday's crash falls under the jurisdiction of South Carolina Highway Patrol Troop 5, Post B, which is headquartered in Florence and oversees state highway enforcement across Florence, Dillon, and Marion counties. State collision data shows that vehicle rollovers account for a disproportionately high percentage of fatal traffic injuries on South Carolina's suburban and rural roads, a pattern borne out locally in November 2025, when troopers investigated another fatal rollover crash in Florence County on West New Hope Road that left one occupant dead and two injured, according to the Campbell and Associates Law Office.
The county's broader crash statistics underscore how often these collisions turn deadly. The South Carolina Department of Public Safety's 2023 Traffic Collision Fact Book recorded 4,322 motor vehicle collisions in Florence County that year, including 13 fatal collisions and about 30 serious-injury collisions. A separate state economic analysis estimated that crashes in the county cost roughly $140 million to $175 million annually in direct economic losses, including medical costs, property damage, and lost work productivity, according to the Jebaily Law Firm.
Sunday's crash is the second fatal wreck to strike Florence County in as many days, following a fatal Florence apartment crash reported Saturday. South Carolina Highway Patrol has not released further details on the identity of the Mercedes driver or the cause of Sunday's crash as the investigation continues.
