Woman killed on her wedding day by drunk driver (1 Viewer)

[Optimus Prime]

A newlywed bride was killed and her new husband left in critical condition after a drunk driver slammed into a golf cart they were riding in following their wedding reception.

Samantha Miller, 34, and Aric Hutchinson, 36, were celebrating their wedding at Folly Beach, South Carolina, on Friday. They and two others left their wedding reception in a golf cart and were allegedly rear ended by a speeding drunk driver.

The force of the impact sent the golf cart tumbling, rolling several times across 100 yards. Ms Hutchinson died on the scene.

The driver, Jamie Komoroski, 25, was allegedly driving 65mph in a 25mph zone and was intoxicated when she hit the couple.

She was arrested and charged with three counts of DUI involving great bodily injury or death as well as reckless homicide, according to WYFF4, citing the Charleston County Detention Centre…….

Newlywed bride killed after drunk driver hits her golf cart immediately after wedding

Samantha Miller, 34, and Aric Hutchinson, 36, were celebrating their wedding at Folly Beach, South Carolina

www.independent.co.uk

 

[superchuck500]

Just an awful story. I read a post about it from Next Door and it was apparently a horrific scene. People were in the street screaming.

 

[Devildog]

If that were my daughter or son, the driver would never leave the scene alive.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Can’t imagine going from the best day of your life to the worst in a blink of an eye

 

[donato]

My first question was if golf carts can legally be on the road. Then I saw the wedding was at night. It says in the article that the golf cart was legal to be on the road at night. It’s horrific what happened, but in the future I don’t think golf carts should be able to be on the road, especially at night. That seems not so smart.

 

[superchuck500]

My first question was if golf carts can legally be on the road. Then I saw the wedding was at night. It says in the article that the golf cart was legal to be on the road at night. It’s horrific what happened, but in the future I don’t think golf carts should be able to be on the road, especially at night. That seems not so smart.

It's a small island beach community - there is one road from the mainland that is 35 mph until you hit the island and it goes to 25. The island is full of golf carts, scooters and other non-car vehicles, which works because the streets are small and vehicle parking is very limited and highly-regulated due to the lack of space . . . particularly because many of the cars are there from the nearby mainland area, which includes metro Charleston (the center of Folly Beach is less than half an hour from downtown Charleston). There are also tons of bicycles on the island.

So there is actually plenty of good policy reasoning as to why LSVs are beneficial to this community.

Under state and local law, certain golf carts are legal on secondary roads at night if they have proper lighting. All of Folly Beach's roads qualify. Apparently this golf cart was properly equipped and legal. The problem here is that the drunk driver was driving 65 miles an hour in such conditions - which is almost impossible to comprehend if you've been there. It's massively criminally reckless.

It could have just as easily been pedestrians or bicyclists - we don't ban them from the road at night.


Typical Folly Beach street:

 

[DaveXA]

It's a small island beach community - there is one road from the mainland that is 35 mph until you hit the island and it goes to 25. The island is full of golf carts, scooters and other non-car vehicles, which works because the streets are small and vehicle parking is very limited and highly-regulated due to the lack of space . . . particularly because many of the cars are there from the nearby mainland area, which includes metro Charleston (the center of Folly Beach is less than half an hour from downtown Charleston). There are also tons of bicycles on the island.

So there is actually plenty of good policy reasoning as to why LSVs are beneficial to this community.

Under state and local law, certain golf carts are legal on secondary roads at night if they have proper lighting. All of Folly Beach's roads qualify. Apparently this golf cart was properly equipped and legal. The problem here is that the drunk driver was driving 65 miles an hour in such conditions - which is almost impossible to comprehend if you've been there. It's massively criminally reckless.

It could have just as easily been pedestrians or bicyclists - we don't ban them from the road at night.


Typical Folly Beach street:

I can't imagine someone driving 65 mph there. That drunk idiot either had a death wish or was feeling homicidal. Ugh. Just feel terrible for the families.

 

[SWJJ]

My first question was if golf carts can legally be on the road. Then I saw the wedding was at night. It says in the article that the golf cart was legal to be on the road at night. It’s horrific what happened, but in the future I don’t think golf carts should be able to be on the road, especially at night. That seems not so smart.

There are lots of places that are resort type places where golf carts are legally allowed on the road. Especially at these beach side or golf course type resorts. These places host a lot of weddings. I'm not familiar with the place this happened but I would wager that it was a similar situation.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Sent the cart tumbling for 100 yards.

Were they on a hill?

That seems far even getting hit at 65 mph

 

[superchuck500]

Sent the cart tumbling for 100 yards.

Were they on a hill?

That seems far even getting hit at 65 mph

Ain't no hills, it's a flat barrier island

 

[Devildog]

65 mph doesn't seem fast, but have a truck doing 65 mph ram into the back of a golf cart maybe doing 10 mph. That's 55 mph of force going up the back of what is basically a stationary object. I'm surprised it didn't make it tumble further.

 

[sfidc3]

My first question was if golf carts can legally be on the road. Then I saw the wedding was at night. It says in the article that the golf cart was legal to be on the road at night. It’s horrific what happened, but in the future I don’t think golf carts should be able to be on the road, especially at night. That seems not so smart.

My first and last question would have more to do with someone intoxicated driving 65 in a 25 mph zone....also in the future golf carts, bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc will continue to be legal and very much used in beach communities.....

 

[Saintman2884]

Ain't no hills, it's a flat barrier island

As someone who has visited Charleston a few times, there are quite a few of these barrier islands off the coast from the city itself, one of which is where a yearly PGA golf tournament is played or it used to be. Chuck, Mt. Pleasant, where you live, that technically isn't part of the city of Charleston, but in one of the adjacent counties nearby? Its part of the larger Charleston metropolitan area, but not exactly in the city itself?

Over my lifetime, which is around 40+ years, Charleston has grown by leaps and bounds, not just from a population standpoint, but from a business, cultural and geographical sense. When I last visited the city in the early 90's, it was still perceived by some as a summertime-only, sleepy kind of backwater resort town that one could honestly see had tons of unlimited potential, since then, over the past three decades, population has increased 80-90,000 more people, the downtown area has really gone through a major revival, in many respects, it's a completely different city than the one I first visited as a pre-teen. A large portion of that success and growth has to be attributed to its long-serving former mayor, Joseph Riley. He's the father of modern Charleston.

 

[donato]

My first and last question would have more to do with someone intoxicated driving 65 in a 25 mph zone....also in the future golf carts, bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc will continue to be legal and very much used in beach communities.....

I get it, but drunk driving isn't going away. It's risky. So is riding a motorcycle. You can be as safe as you want, but you can't control what the other guy is doing, and if there's an accident there's not much in the way to protect you. I suppose at least most motorcycle riders wear helmets though.

 

[Madmarsha]

My first question was if golf carts can legally be on the road. Then I saw the wedding was at night. It says in the article that the golf cart was legal to be on the road at night. It’s horrific what happened, but in the future I don’t think golf carts should be able to be on the road, especially at night. That seems not so smart.

I've never liked it from either perspective of it being me on a golf cart or me driving a car near it. Because most of the cart drivers in a beach community? Drunk or too young to even have a driver's license.

But that's besides this point. So many lives now ruined.