South Carolina man killed in crash in front of church, officials says

A South Carolina man was recently killed when the motorcycle he was driving was involved in a crash, according to the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office.

Read more Strong, smoky odor reported in Horry County. Is it from the Canada wildfires?

Bryan M. Rodger, a 60-year-old from Bonneau, died July 14 in what Coroner Darnell Hartwell called an accident.

The two-vehicle collision happened at about 6:50 a.m. in the Bonneau area of Berkeley County, said Cpl. Nick Pye of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Rodger was driving a 1985 Kawasaki motorcycle south on U.S. 17A, according to Pye. A 2003 Ford pickup also was driving south on U.S. 17A, and the truck hit the motorcycle as it turned left onto Church of God Road, Pye said. That’s in front of a church and near Oak Grove Pentecostal Holiness.

Rodger died at the scene, according to Hartwell.

Pye said the pickup driver was not hurt, and no other injuries were reported.

There was no word if Rodger was wearing a helmet, or if the pickup driver was wearing a seatbelt, but the wreck continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.

Read more FDA backtracks on Taylor Farms cyclospora lettuce test, California firm notes ‘mistake’

Through Sunday, 464 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 19 people have died in Berkeley County crashes this year, and 34 people died in wrecks there in 2025, according to DPS data.