Motorists from both Pickens and Oconee counties died in single-car accidents this past weekend.

A crash three miles north of Pickens Sunday claimed the life of a 24-year-old Easley man.

Pickens County Deputy Coroner Kandy Kelley said Justin Michael Thomas, of Montague Drive, was pronounced dead at Cannon Memorial Hospital due to blunt force trauma.

Lance Cpl. Scot Edgeworth said the driver was traveling north on Ireland Road just after 4 a.m. when he suddenly lost control of his 1997 four-door Honda. The vehicle then went off the right side near Black Snake Road, striking a road sign and utility pole before finally striking a concrete wall.

Edgeworth, who said the weather was clear and dry, added that the fatality remains under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Meanwhile, a 41-year-old Salem man also died early Sunday morning from injuries sustained in a one-vehicle collision near Salem.

Michael L. Brice, of 277 Megee Road, Salem, died at the scene on North Highway 11 near the intersection of Whitewater Falls Road. He was not wearing a seatbelt, according to investigators, and was partially ejected from his pickup truck after it left the road and overturned on the driver’s side in a creek bed. The collision occurred at approximately 12:15 a.m.

Brice died from traumatic asphyxiation due to the vehicle coming to rest on top of him, according to Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis.

Addis said no autopsy is planned.