South Carolina man killed when truck crashes into tree, coroner says
A South Carolina man was killed over the weekend when the pickup truck he was driving crashed into a tree, according to the Lexington County Coroner’s Office.
Michael Albert Temples, a 57-year-old Batesburg resident, died Saturday in what Coroner Margaret Fisher called an accident.
The single-vehicle collision happened at about 2:30 p.m., said Lance Cpl. Nick Pye of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Temples was driving a 2014 Chevrolet pickup east on Haven Road, in the Batesburg area of Lexington County, according to Pye. Near the intersection with J J Parrish Road the pickup ran off the left side of Haven Road, where it hit a ditch then crashed into a tree, Pye said.
Temples, who was not wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene, according to Fisher.
No other injuries were reported.
Information about what caused the pickup to veer off the road was not available, but the wreck continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.
Through Feb. 8, at least 55 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2026, according to the state Department of Public Safety. A minimum of 914 people were killed in collisions in South Carolina in 2025, DPS data shows.
At least seven people have died in Lexington County crashes this year, and 40 people died in wrecks there in 2025, according to DPS data.
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This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 9:20 AM with the headline "South Carolina man killed when truck crashes into tree, coroner says."
