65-year-old thrown off motorcycle after hitting a deer in deadly crash, SC cops say
A 65-year-old was on a motorcycle when he hit a deer in a deadly South Carolina crash, officials said.
The man was riding a Harley-Davidson through Laurens County when an animal crossed the road on Wednesday, Dec. 15, according to the S.C. Highway Patrol.
The motorcyclist reportedly swerved to avoid the deer but hit it. The man was thrown off the bike and died at the scene, state troopers said in a news release.
Officials said the man wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time of the single-vehicle crash, which happened at about 6 p.m. along Jefferson Davis Road. The area is near Clinton, roughly 50 miles southeast of Greenville.
The motorcyclist — identified as Michael Wayne Templeton — died of “blunt force trauma to the head,” Patti Canupp, the chief deputy coroner for Laurens County, wrote in an email to McClatchy News.
Templeton was from the Upstate town of Greenwood.
As of Dec. 15, Master Trooper Brandon Bolt of the S.C. Highway Patrol said the incident was under investigation.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 8:55 AM with the headline "65-year-old thrown off motorcycle after hitting a deer in deadly crash, SC cops say."
