GREAT FALLS — An 18-year-old Columbia woman died Friday after being struck by a tractor-trailer while walking across Interstate 77 in Chester County on Thursday night, apparently after she had gotten out of her vehicle following a crash, police said.

The truck, driven by a 54-year-old man from Concord, N.C., hit the woman just before 10 p.m.

The victim, whose name has not been released by the Chester County coroner, was taken by helicopter to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where she died Friday night from her injuries, according to the Highway Patrol.

While driving north on I-77 near the S.C. 97 exit outside Great Falls on Thursday night, the woman rear-ended a different tractor-trailer, police said. Her vehicle crossed the median and hit an embankment on the southbound side of the highway and ran off the road.

The woman got out of her car and was walking across the southbound lanes of I-77 when she was struck by the second tractor-trailer.

The AAA auto club said drivers involved in car accidents on a highway should pull off the road onto level ground, as far away from other moving traffic as possible.

“If you get out of your vehicle, proceed carefully and watch for oncoming traffic, especially at night or in bad weather, when visibility is limited,” the AAA website recommends.

Drivers should not stand in front of or behind their cars, because it keeps other drivers from seeing them. Under most circumstances, AAA says, drivers should pull away from traffic and stay in their vehicle until police or road service help arrives.

If it’s necessary to leave the car for safety, passengers should exit from the side of the car facing away from traffic.

Anna Douglas 803-329-4068