In the past 24 hours, two people have died as a result of traffic fatalities on I-85 in or around Anderson County:

• The Greenville News reported Wesley Robinson, 70, was killed when the pickup he was riding in was hit from behind by a tractor trailer on Interstate 85 in Anderson County.
• The Anderson Independent reported a 70-year-old woman, Bridget Green of Gastonia, N.C.,  died Monday, when the vehicle she was riding in flipped over on I-85 near Exit 11. Mrs. Green’s daughter, Carolyn Massey, was driving a 2001 Chevy Venture van northbound on I-85 when it ran off the roadway and flipped over.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation provides "real time" traffic cameras for stretches of I-85 in Anderson County.  However, the most dangerous stretch of I-85 starts at the Georgia border to about Exit 19 in South Carolina. Road construction is being performed from Exit 11 to Exit 19 on I-85, as indicated on the SCDOT Traffic Advisory website.

Given the varying construction projects that are ongoing in the area and the myriad number of tractor trailers that pass through this stretch of interstate on any given day, several legal issues could arise:

• South Carolina Tort Claims Act, as set out by S.C. Code Ann. § 15-78-40, indicates the State, an agency, a political subdivision, and a governmental entity are liable for their torts in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, subject to the limitations upon liability and damages, and exemptions from liability and damages, contained herein;
• S.C. Code Ann. § 15-78-40– provides those exceptions to the waiver of immunity; and
• Negligence – duty, breach, causation, and damages.

These were recent pictures taken of I-85 from Exit 19 to Exit 11. Working in Anderson County, we are familiar with the area, law, and roadway conditions.