Two pedestrians were sent to Grand Strand Hospital Friday night after being critically injured by a motorist.
Master Cpl. Tom Vest with the Myrtle Beach Police Department said the incident happened at around 10:20 p.m. in front of the Myrtle Beach Convention Center at Oak Street and 21st Avenue North.
Both pedestrians were trying to cross Oak Street when they were hit, Vest said.
According to NBC News:
Pedestrian deaths in 2020 increased by 21 percent from 2019 — the largest annual increase since such data collection began in the mid-1970s — according to a report released Thursday by the Governors Highway Safety Association.
The figure is particularly striking because there were fewer drivers on the road for much of 2020, as Americans hunkered down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“All of the metrics indicate there were fewer people on the roads, and so you would expect to see fewer traffic deaths, but it’s the opposite,” said Richard Retting, a safety researcher the GHSA contracted to do the data analysis. “It’s kind of mind-boggling.”