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Andrew Moore

A two-vehicle collision on U.S. Highway 123 bypass and Old Salem Road sent the driver of this black Toyota Tacoma to Oconee Medical Center. Witnesses say the woman driving the truck was trying to cross 123 from Old Salem Road when she was clipped by a passing Honda Accord, sending the truck rolling and coming to rest upside down.

Sheriff’s deputies, Seneca Police and South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) officers worked two personal injury accidents early Tuesday morning.

Two people were injured, one a motorcyclist, near the intersection of S.C. Highway 28 and West Union Road.

Just before 8 a.m., SCHP reported that 20-year-old Brett Underwood was traveling westbound on Highway 28 when he clipped the front of a Ford Taurus turning left from West Union Road.

Troopers charged 72-year-old Robert Jones of West Union with failing to yield right-of-way.

SCHP spokeswoman Kathy Hyles said the injuries to Underwood and Jones were minor. However, both were transported to Oconee Medical Center.

Sheriff’s officers diverted westbound traffic on Highway 28 onto West Union Road for about 30 minutes after the accident.

Meanwhile, Highway Patrol and Seneca officers, along with members of the Seneca Fire Department, rushed to the scene of an accident on the 123 bypass, near the intersection of S.C. Highway 130, where two vehicles collided.

According to witnesses, a navy blue Honda Accord traveling east toward Clemson clipped the back of a black Toyota Tacoma truck as it tried to cross 123 from Old Salem Road, sending it rolling, eventually coming to rest upside down.

Thaxton Coleman of Seneca and Fred Boerin of Easley both witnessed the crash.

“I was going by and just caught the tail end of it,” Coleman said. “The truck just got clipped, and then I just saw it flipping up in the air.”

Boerin and Coleman rushed to the aid of the injured woman in the truck, who was hanging upside down inside the vehicle, held only by her seat belt. The two men pulled her out of the car while medical personnel responded to the scene.

“I was driving and saw her (driver of the Honda) pass me because I was going too slow,” Boerin said. “I know she definitely wasn't speeding, because it took her a while to pass me. The next thing you know, you've got cars flipping.”

Boerin told Seneca Police what he saw, making sure authorities knew he felt the driver of the Honda was not speeding. The driver of the truck was taken to Oconee Medical Center with undisclosed injuries. She was conscious as she was put on the stretcher.

She's lucky she's not hurt worse than that," Coleman said.

The driver of the Honda, while visibly shaken, was uninjured.

“She's fine,” Boerin said. “She's probably just scared to death.”