Charlotte motorcyclist dies during commute time in crash near Fort Mill, officials say
A motorcycle driver from Charlotte has died after being involved in a crash in South Carolina near the N.C. border on Lancaster County’s busiest stretch of road, officials said.
The collision happened Thursday during the afternoon commute time around 4:15 p.m. on U.S. 521 near S.C. 160, according to officials. The area of Indian Land in Lancaster County is close to Fort Mill at the border of Charlotte, N.C.
The motorcyclist was identified as Robert Srnovrsnik, 53, of Charlotte, the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office said.
He died after the crash at a Charlotte hospital, according to the coroner and S.C. Highway Patrol.
The SUV was stopped in traffic on southbound U.S. 521 when the motorcycle, traveling south, struck the SUV, said Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell of the highway patrol.
The driver of the SUV was not hurt, Tidwell said.
The wreck remains under investigation by the S.C. Department of Public Safety and the coroner’s office.
Crash area on U.S. 521 is busiest during commute
The area of the crash about a mile from the North Carolina state line is the busiest stretch of road in Lancaster County, according to South Carolina statistics. The area is known as the Indian Land panhandle of Lancaster and borders York County in South Carolina, and Mecklenburg and Union counties in North Carolina.
Traffic volume is at its peak during commuter periods in the morning and afternoon, with around 40,000 vehicles per day using the stretch of road on U.S. 521, according to an analysis of traffic patterns for commuters done by The Herald using South Carolina Department of Transportation and public safety data.
U.S. 521 is the main commuter route for eastern Fort Mill and Lancaster County drivers between Charlotte and Interstate 485 in southern Mecklenburg County.
U.S. 521 is set to be widened in that area of South Carolina in the future from four to six lanes, The Herald previously reported.
Thursday’s fatal crash was the first on U.S. 521 in northern Lancaster County in 2023.
There were three fatalities on U.S. 521 in northern Lancaster County 2022 and 2021, public safety statistics show. There was more than 350 collisions each of the past two years on that stretch of road, according to South Carolina figures. More than 40 of those collisions involved injuries, the statistics show.
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This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 8:40 AM.
