SC man and teenage daughter killed in motorcycle crash, coroner says
A South Carolina man and his teenage daughter were killed in a weekend motorcycle crash, the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office said Monday.
Roger D. Austin, 44, and Avery Austin, 18, died in Saturday’s accident in the Lowcountry, Coroner Darnell Hartwell said.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 9 p.m. in Berkeley County, according to Master Trooper Mitchell Ridgeway of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
A 2008 Honda motorcycle was driving east on Cypress Campground Road, Ridgeway said. Near the intersection with U.S. 176 the motorcycle ran off the left side of the road and crashed into several trees before spilling, according to Ridgeway.
Both father and daughter died at the scene, Hartwell said.
No other injuries were reported.
Information about who was driving the motorcycle, and who was the passenger, and if either wore a helmet, was not available.
There was no word about what caused the motorcycle to veer off the road, but the wreck continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.
Through Sunday, 197 people have died on South Carolina roads in 2023, and 18 involved a motorcycle, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,081 people died in crashes in South Carolina, and 144 involved motorcycles, DPS reported.
At least 19 people have died in Berkeley County crashes in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, 49 deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported.
